[Malnutrition in geriatric patients: the Bethanien nutritional study]

Demographic developments in the Federal Republic of Germany indicate a future marked increase in the aged population. With this, there will be an increase in elderly patients. Malnutrition can contribute to disease as well as result from it. While most urgent nutritional problems of the population in general reside in the areas of increased intakes of energy and certain nutrients, nutritional deficiencies are frequent in older citizens, and in particular, geriatric patients. These deficiencies may result from psycho-social factors such as isolation, depression, or chronic brain failure, as well as from clinical factors (diseases which increase nutritional requirements or utilization of nutrients, drug/nutrient-interactions, etc.). The following questions are addressed: 1) How frequent is malnutrition in geriatric patients and which forms of malnutrition can be found? 2) What are the causes of malnutrition? 3) What is the relationship between malnutrition and mortality? 4) Which strategies for prevention and treatment of malnutrition can be developed from the above findings? The study is performed in Bethanien-Hospital, Heidelberg, FRG, a geriatric hospital and day clinic. Three hundred patients aged 75 years or older (representative sample) were included. Nutrition and nutritional status are determined and related to health, drug therapy and other psycho-social conditions in the very old. The prospective part of the study is planned for 18 months and this will also be the duration of the intervention phase.