Digital Malnutrition Screening in Older Adults: Translating Technological Detection Into Equitable Nutrition-Care Pathways

Malnutrition in older adults remains under-recognized across healthcare settings despite advances in digital screening and monitoring technologies. Recent evidence highlights the potential of digital tools to improve nutritional risk identification, but their translation into effective clinical interventions remains insufficiently established.

This commentary builds on the recent review by Amatrudo et al. to critically examine the transition from technology-assisted malnutrition detection to equitable, clinically actionable nutrition-care pathways.

Digital screening systems should be evaluated beyond diagnostic accuracy and operational efficiency. Important priorities include external validation across diverse populations, integration with dietitian-led interventions, age-friendly and multilingual interfaces, caregiver participation, algorithmic fairness, and human oversight.

We propose a four-component validation pathway encompassing population-level validation, integration of screening with nutritional interventions, equitable digital implementation, and evaluation of patient-centred outcomes, including functional decline, hospitalization, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness.

The future of digital malnutrition care requires a shift from identifying nutritional risk to delivering timely, accountable, and equitable interventions. This commentary advocates globally adaptable, clinically integrated digital nutrition systems that prioritize measurable patient benefit.