Nutritional Risks and Determinants in Older Adults

Question 1

What is cachexia?

Answer 1

loss of fat and muscle mass due to disease

Question 2

What 4 factors are considered when doing a comprehensive assessment of nutritional status in older adults?

Answer 2

• anthropometric
• clinical
• biochemical
• dietary intake
• based on the conditions of these results malnutrition and undernutrition can be diagnosed and a treatment plan can be made and implemented
• very good method but requires high resources, high cost, and expertise. Cant be routine for all adults

Question 3

What is an anthropometric assessment in relation to nutritional status?
How much weight loss over time is concerning?

Answer 3

• measures the body shape, size and composition
• BMI
• body composition by DXA, skin folds, and BIA
• and the circumference of waist, arm, and calf
• 5% over 1 month
• 7.5% in 3 months
• 10% in 6 months

Question 4

What does a clinical assessment measure when assessing nutritional status in older adults?

Answer 4

• musculature, hair skin, nails, eyes, body fat, mucosa
• also do a functional assessment of activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and functional measures of muscle mass
• cognitive and psychological function
• socioeconomic factors

Question 5

What kinds of dietary intake assessments can be done?

Answer 5

• 24 hour food recall
• 3-7 day food record
• food frequency questionare
• diet history

Question 6

What does a biochemical assessment measure in relation to food status?

Answer 6

• protein status: albumin, transferrin, prealbumin, and retinol-binding protein
• immune function by lymphocyte count
• serum cholesterol (serum cholesterol occurs late in the course of malnutrition)
• vitamin and mineral biomarkers

Question 7

Screening and assessment tools to identify risks for malnutrition in older adults are different than a comprehensive nutritional assessment. What are the characteristics of these assessment and screening tools?

Answer 7

• standardized methods to identify indivuduals for follow up
• based on factors that are know to be related to nutritional status
• tools need to be valid and reliable

Question 8

What are the factors included in screening and assessment tools?

Answer 8

• anthropometrics
• dietary intake
• factors that affect food intake
• presence of clinical conditons
• social factors