Evaluation of commonly used nutritional assessment methods in hip fracture patients

Amalia Tsagari; Evaggelia Papakitsou; Yannis Dionyssiotis; Stavroula Rizou; Antonios Galanos; George P Lyritis

Evaluation of commonly used nutritional assessment methods in hip fracture patients

J Frailty Sarcopenia Falls. 2017 Sep 1;2(3):39-44. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Authors

Amalia Tsagari¹, Evaggelia Papakitsou², Yannis Dionyssiotis³, Stavroula Rizou⁴, Antonios Galanos⁵, George P Lyritis⁴

Affiliations

¹ Dietetic Department, KAT General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
² Orthopaedic Department, Laiko General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
³ Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department, European Interbalkan Medical Center, Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁴ Hellenic Osteoporosis Foundation, Athens, Greece.
⁵ Laboratory for Research of the Musculoskeletal System "Th. Garofalidis", Medical School, University of Athens, KAT General Hospital, Athens, Greece.

PMID: 32313849
PMCID: PMC7161933

Abstract

Objective: Malnutrition is a common problem in hip fracture patients. The prevalence of malnutrition and available nutritional markers for use for nutritional assessment in this population group was investigated.

Methods: This is a case control study including 214 patients with a hip fracture from "KAT" Hospital in Athens, Greece, and 108 controls from three Elderly Open Protection Centers. Main outcome measures were anthropometric [Body Mass Index (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TST) and mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC)] and biochemical parameters (serum albumin and serum cholesterol). Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used for malnutrition assessment.

Results: Based on MNA score only, we found 19.5 % vs. 0.9% malnourished, 54.6% vs. 32.4% at risk and 25.9% vs. 66.7% well-nourished, in hip fracture group and controls, respectively. All anthropometric parameters of malnutrition were significantly lower in the hip fracture patients compared to controls (p value<0.05). Serum albumin and serum-cholesterol levels correlated negatively significantly with s-CRP levels (R²=0.247, p<0.001 and R²=0.06, p<0.001, respectively) in the hip fracture group.

Conclusions: Hip fracture patients are often malnourished. MNA application may be helpful in identifying malnourished hip fracture patients. Moreover, serum cholesterol may be a useful marker of malnutrition in hip fracture patients.

Keywords: Anthropometry; Biochemical markers; Hip fracture; Malnutrition; Mini Nutritional Assessment.