Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form: Validation in Five Latin American Cities. SABE Study.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nutritional Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Malnutrition is a significant health concern in older populations, impacting morbidity and mortality.
• Accurate and efficient screening tools are crucial for early detection and intervention in community-dwelling older adults.
• The Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF) and calf circumference (CC) are potential tools for assessing nutritional status.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF) against the full MNA.
• To evaluate the efficacy of a 31 cm calf circumference (CC) cut-off point as a surrogate for nutritional assessment.
• To assess the utility of these tools in a diverse Latin American older population.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 5,722 community-dwelling older adults (60-102 years) across five major Latin American cities.
• Participants completed the MNA, MNA-SF (using BMI and CC versions), and underwent anthropometric measurements.
• Statistical analyses included Cohen's Kappa, diagnostic tests, and Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

Main Results:

• Both MNA-SF versions demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity, with good overall accuracy (0.88) compared to the full MNA.
• The 31 cm CC cut-off showed high sensitivity (74.6-94.4%) and specificity (72.6-100%), with good ROC curve areas (0.87-0.95) when compared with BMI.
• Good agreement (Kappa: 0.6193-0.7852) was observed between the MNA and MNA-SF for identifying malnutrition or risk.

Conclusions:

• The MNA-SF, in both BMI and CC-based versions, is a valid and accurate population-screening tool for malnutrition in Latin American older adults.
• The 31 cm CC cut-off is a reliable indicator for nutritional screening in this population.
• These tools offer a practical and rapid method for assessing nutritional status, facilitating timely interventions.