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Nutritional screening tools for HIV-infected patients: implications for elderly patients
Marco Ruiz1, Leigh Ann Kamerman
1Department of Medicine, Section of Geriatric Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. mruiz@lsuhsc.edu
Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (Chicago, Ill. : 2002)
|December 9, 2010
Summary
Current nutritional screening tools may miss key issues in elderly HIV patients. A combined anthropometric approach including BMI, weight loss, waist-to-hip ratio, and mid-arm circumference is proposed for better detection.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Nutrition is critical for elderly patients living with HIV.
- Existing screening tools may fail to identify visceral fat changes, protein loss, and lipodystrophy in this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current nutritional screening methods for elderly HIV-infected patients.
- To identify limitations of existing tools in detecting specific nutritional issues like lipodystrophy.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies published in English, French, and Spanish.
- Searched Medline and Cochrane databases up to January 2010.
Main Results:
- Recent research challenges the reliability of body mass index (BMI) and weight loss as sole indicators of nutritional status in HIV-positive individuals.
- Novel screening approaches are under investigation for elderly HIV patients to address limitations of current methods.
Conclusions:
- A comprehensive nutritional screening test incorporating BMI, weight loss, waist-to-hip (W/H) ratio, and mid-arm circumference is suggested.
- Further clinical trials are necessary to validate this combined anthropometric approach in elderly HIV-infected populations.
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