[Not Available]

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Clinical Nutrition
• Biostatistics

Background:

• Hospital malnutrition is prevalent in the elderly, impacting hospital stay duration, prognosis, and comorbidity.
• Nutritional status assessment can utilize anthropometric measurements, biochemical parameters, and nutritional screening tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate calf circumference as a valid indicator of malnutrition in newly hospitalized elderly patients.
• To analyze the influence of sex and age on calf circumference as a malnutrition marker.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study of 907 elderly, multi-pathological patients upon hospital admission.
• Biochemical markers (lymphocyte count, total cholesterol, transferrin, albumin) and nutritional screening scales (MNA, NRS, VGS) were assessed.
• Calf circumference was measured, and correlation with other nutritional parameters was analyzed.

Main Results:

• Nutritional screening tests indicated an average malnutrition rate of 75%.
• Biochemical parameters showed malnutrition rates between 63.4% and 76.7%.
• Calf circumference identified malnutrition in 74.2% of patients, correlating significantly with other parameters (sensitivity 99.31% at a 29 cm cutoff).

Conclusions:

• A significant 75% of elderly patients are malnourished upon hospital admission.
• Calf circumference is a simple, highly sensitive marker for detecting malnutrition in the elderly.
• This measurement is independent of sex and age, offering a practical screening tool.