In Sweden, patients in early palliative stages of illness are cared for in primary care and often offered home care. Many are older and at risk for malnutrition, but little is known about their symptom burden and nutritional problems. This cross-sectional study divided older patients in home care into those with and without risk for malnutrition and compared symptom burden in the 2 groups. Participants were patients in Stockholm County (n = 121) in early palliative stages of disease cared for at home by primary care professionals from 10 health-care centers. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used to identify risk for malnutrition. Symptoms and/or nutritional status in patients with and without risk were assessed with the Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT), Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form (PG-SGA), and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). Forty-two percent of the patients were at risk for malnutrition (MNA). Appetite (P = .012), tiredness (P = .003), and anxiety (P = .008) were worse in these patients than in those without risk (ESAS; significance level, P ≤ .015). Patients at risk were also more concerned about how thin they looked (P = .006), agreed more strongly that their family or friends were pressuring them to eat (P = .000; FAACT; significance level, P ≤ .029), had a higher symptom burden (P = .005), had lower physical activity (P = .000), and more lost weight over time (P = .032; PG-SGA; significance level, P ≤ .040). This study adds a more detailed picture of the symptom burden in older patients at risk for malnutrition. Such information is needed to identify risk for malnutrition earlier and improve patients' health.
Keywords: cross-sectional; frail elderly; palliative care; questionnaire; symptoms; undernutrition.