A new American study draws an alarming report on the state of health of elderly subjects arriving at the emergency room, who suffer from malnutrition without knowing.
“Malnutrition is known to be a common problem among older people, explains Timothy F. Platts-Mills, co-author of the study, what is more surprising in our study is that most patients with malnutrition have never been diagnosed before. “
To arrive at such results, researchers at the University of North Carolina studied the health status of 138 adults aged 65 and over entering the service of emergency room, and generally living alone without medical assistance.
After a medical and behavioral examination (via a questionnaire on the patient’s habits), it turned out that 16% of the elderly people examined were in a state of malnutrition. And among them, 77% had never received this diagnosis before.
Of the 138 people, 60% were also assessed at risk of malnutrition.
Thus, only 24% of the elderly presented to the emergency room were well fed.
No incidence of age, sex or social background reflected a prevalence of malnutrition, however, the scientists found that malnutrition was more rampant in patients with loss of autonomy, presenting symptoms of depression, problems with mobility or feeding difficulties.
Nutritional surveillance to be developed
The researchers therefore call on emergency physicians to act accordingly when caring for the elderly: make a diagnosis if necessary and initiate follow-up nutritional.
“Seniors make more than 20 million emergency room visits per year in the United States, says Timothey Platts-Mills, our study demonstrates the importance of developing the capacity of emergencies to meet the unmet needs of older people. Implementing nutritional supplementation would be inexpensive and would reduce readmissions for these patients. “
Sources:
-Malnutrition among Cognitively Intact, Noncritically Ill Older Adults in the Emergency Department, Annales of Emergency Medicine, published August 12, 2014
–Many older emergency department patients are malnourished, Eurekalert
–Why seniors don’t eat: It’s complicated, Eurekalert
