Protein-Energy Undernutrition Among Elderly Hospitalized Patients

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Abstract
Up to 60% of elderly hospitalized patients are protein-energy undernourished on admission or develop serious nutritional deficits prior to discharge.1,2 Within this population, such nutritional deficits are associated with an increased risk of subsequent morbid events.3 Despite these facts, protein-energy undernutrition is often not diagnosed, and the older patient's risk for further nutritional deterioration during hospitalization is usually not recognized.4-6 Several reports suggest that hospitalized elderly patients are often allowed to subsist for days on very low nutrient intakes,7-13 and even when their nutritional problems are recognized, adequate nutrition support is rarely provided.5,7,8 Thus, many elderly patients receive less than optimal nutritional care while hospitalized. Whether inadequate nutrient intake during hospitalization is an important contributor to the development of nutrient deficits within this population is not known. However, since the risk of complications and death increases in direct proportion to the severity of the elderly patient's nutritional deficits,14 the adequacy of the nutritional care routinely provided to elderly hospitalized patients is an important issue.