The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging
Malnutrition risk and nutritional interventions among older hospitalised patients with and without dementia: a multicentre nine-year study
By Doris Eglseer and Silvia Bauer.
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The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging
By Doris Eglseer and Silvia Bauer.
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To (1) describe the prevalence of malnutrition risk in older hospitalised patients with and without dementia across annual cross-sectional assessments between 2017 and 2025; (2) examine nutritional interventions among older hospitalised patients at malnutrition risk with and without dementia between 2017 and 2025; and (3) identify clinical and demographic factors associated with the co-occurrence of dementia and malnutrition risk.
Multicentre, cross-sectional secondary data analysis.
Austrian acute care hospitals participating in the Nursing Quality Measurement 2.0 (LPZ) between 2017 and 2025.
A total of 9,991 hospitalised patients aged ≥65 years were included; 616 (6.2%) had a documented dementia diagnosis, 2,369 (23.7%) were at risk of malnutrition, and 144 (1.4%) had both dementia and malnutrition risk.
Data collection included a standardized questionnaire using patient interviews, clinical assessments, and review of medical records. Malnutrition risk was assessed using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). Dementia diagnoses were based on ICD-10 documentation. Thirteen nutritional interventions were recorded dichotomously. Group comparisons and multivariable logistic regression analyses (with co-occurrence of dementia and malnutrition risk according to MUST as the dependent variable) were performed.
The overall malnutrition risk was 23.7% and did not differ between patients with and without dementia (23.4% vs. 23.7%, = 0.840). Among patients at malnutrition risk, those with dementia more frequently received mealtime assistance (59.7% vs. 15.3%, p < 0.001), modification of the mealtime environment (57.6% vs. 26.3%, p < 0.001), texture-modified diets (47.9% vs. 16.7%, p < 0.001), enriched diets (47.5% vs. 16.0%, p < 0.001) and oral nutritional supplements (28.5% vs. 19.2%, p = .008) than those without dementia. Between 2017 and 2025, the use of several nutritional interventions varied. The co-occurrence of dementia and malnutrition risk was independently associated with female sex (OR 1.56, CI 1.07–2.29), higher age (OR 1.07 per year, CI 1.04–1.09), end-of-life condition (OR 1.89, CI 1.21–2.95), higher number of medical diagnoses (OR 1.37, CI 1.24–1.50), and greater care dependency (OR 0.95 per CDS point, CI 0.94−0.96) in the multivariable analysis.
Older hospitalised patients with dementia and malnutrition risk received a broad range of nutritional interventions in routine clinical practice, particularly interventions supporting oral intake. Nevertheless, variation in nutritional care and the comparatively modest use of some guideline-recommended interventions indicate a need for further research on the appropriateness and implementation of nutritional care in this population.
Published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging. The abstract is shown as published and remains the work of its authors; read the full article at the source.
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