Nutritional assessment interpretation on 22 007 Spanish community-dwelling elders through the Mini Nutritional Assessment test

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of undernutrition among community-dwelling elderly people in Spain using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and to analyse its distribution according to age, gender and residence region.Design: Cross-sectional study assessing the nutritional status of elderly persons through both the short form and the full version of the MNA test.Setting: Pharmacy offices across the whole country (Spain) were enrolled to recruit participants.Subjects: A total of 22 007 participants (8014 men and 13 993 women), aged ≥65 years, assessed during the last two months of 2005.Results: According to MNA screening, 4·3 % subjects were classified as undernourished (MNA score r = 0·85). MNA total score was significantly higher in men than in women (25·4 (sd 3·7) v. 24·6 (sd 3·9); P < 0·001) and lower in the oldest than in the youngest subjects (P < 0·001) in both genders. According to regional distribution, the best nutritional status was found in elderly from the north of Spain excluding the north-west area.Conclusions: Female gender, older age and living in the south half or north-west of the country were associated with higher rates of undernutrition among community-dwelling elderly persons in Spain.