Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis and Mini Nutritional Assessment in elderly nursing home residents

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nutritional Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Malnutrition is a significant concern in institutionalized elderly populations, impacting health and quality of life.
• Traditional assessment tools may have limitations in comprehensively evaluating nutritional status.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of malnutrition and risk of malnutrition in institutionalized elderly using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA).
• To assess changes in nutritional status using Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA).

Main Methods:

• An observational study was conducted in twelve nursing homes in Florence, Italy.
• 463 elderly individuals (≥65 years) underwent Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA).
• Bioelectrical parameters (resistance and reactance) were measured and analyzed using BIVA.

Main Results:

• 23.1% of women and 20.4% of men were malnourished (MNA < 17), while 60.0% of women and 52.8% of men were at risk (17 ≤ MNA ≤ 23.5).
• Significant differences in MNA scores were observed between malnourished, at-risk, and well-fed subjects (p < 0.05).
• Decreasing MNA scores correlated with increased displacement from the BIVA tolerance ellipse, indicating poorer nutritional status.

Conclusions:

• Routine assessment using BIVA combined with MNA can effectively identify malnutrition and its risk in the elderly.
• These combined methods offer comprehensive and user-friendly information, even for severely impaired individuals.
• BIVA provides valuable complementary data to traditional nutritional assessments like MNA.