Assessment of Nutritional Status in the Elderly Patient

Abstract

Aging is a process that starts from birth and is a physiological condition. The negativities brought by this process are reduced with the developing prevention and treatment possibilities. In this way, the population over the age of 65 is increasing. The needs of the aging population differ. The change in physiological, psychological and socioeconomic parameters and the increase in the incidence of chronic diseases make it inevitable to develop new approaches for their needs. Malnutrition, which means nutritional disorder, contributes to the progression of many diseases in the elderly, as well as to the etiology of sarcopenia and frailty. Malnutrition risk factors in elderly individuals; It includes social factors resulting from psychological, socioeconomic and sociodemographic disadvantaged conditions, including physiological, medical and mental disorders related to aging. Early detection and prevention of malnutrition is important. The path to be followed in the detection and treatment of malnutrition in the elderly should be screening, detection, intervention, monitoring and evaluation. The most appropriate assessment method should be  fast,  cheap, valid, reliable, consistent, easy to apply, sensitive enough to detect patients at risk of malnutrition with the least margin of error, and should be scored with numerical data. If malnutrition is detected in the individual with screening tests, more detailed evaluation tests should be started. The use of appropriate, practical assessment tools will ensure that malnutrition, which is often overlooked in practice, is visible. Necessary interventions for malnutrition, which is a preventable condition, will have positive effects on morbidity and mortality rates.