Nutrition screening of older adults living in care homes

summary Risk and prevalence of malnutrition increases with old age. If left unrecognised and untreated, malnutrition can result in adverse effects such as disease, delayed recovery time and an increase in hospital stays. This study assessed the risk of malnutrition in older adults living in residential and nursing care, in the Leeds and West Yorkshire area using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool ‘MUST’. Five hundred and nine residents (375 residential care and 134 nursing care residents) from 25 care homes participated in the study. Participants’ BMI, unplanned weight loss and acute disease score were recorded, and overall MUST score calculated. Overall risk of malnutrition (medium or high) in care home residents was estimated at 41.6%. As expected the risk of malnutrition was significantly (p < 0.001) greater in nursing care (50%) compared to residential care (33.2%). It is important that awareness of malnutrition risk is increased so that methods to improve nutritional intakes can be implemented effectively where appropriate.