Investigation of situation for development of infection, nutritional and length of hospital stay in elderly hospitalized in a palliative clinic

Abstract

Aim: In our study, we aimed to evaluate patients' nutritional status, compare frequently used nutritional scales with each other and with the duration of hospitalization, and measure the effect of nutritional status on infection and mortality who are in the elderly. Materials and Methods: Nutritional Risk Screening-2002, Mini Nutritional Assessment, and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index were used. Patients were monitored for infection and mortality throughout the hospitalization period. Results: The prevalence of malnutrition was found 98.6% with Mini Nutritional Assessment, 97.3% with Nutritional Risk Screening-2002, and 87.1% with Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index. A high correlation was found between the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index and albumin, body mass index, arm, and calf circumference. Conclusion: The malnutrition rate is quite high in patients who need palliative care. The Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, compared to Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 and Mini Nutritional Assessment, is an effective and user-friendly scale that contains objective variables in bed-dependent patients for nutrition.