Is mini-nutritional assessment a reliable tool in detecting malnutrition in elderly with body weight excess?

Purpose The rising proportion of elderly population in high-income societies has resulted in increasing number of subjects with chronic disabling diseases and nutritional deficiency. Elderly’s nutritional status is usually assessed through the mini-nutritional assessment (MNA®). However, its effectiveness may be influenced by weight excess or obesity. We tested the performance of MNA® questionnaire in subjects aged ≥ 65 years from Northern Sardinia, Italy, according to overweight/obesity, and we tried to identify the factors associated with malnutrition.