Malnutrition in the elderly.

Malnutrition is known to be very common in hospitalized and institutionalized elderly. Various studies report an incidence ranging from 33% to 67% of all patients. Recent evidence also suggests that the presence of nutritional deficiencies is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and greater use of health care resources. The problem is compounded by the lack of resources in most acute care hospitals and nursing homes to obtain an adequate nutritional assessment or to monitor nutritional status over time. This report will present an overview of nutritional problems in the elderly, and provide an approach aimed at identifying patients at high risk of being malnourished in order to develop rational strategies for management. The role of nutritional factors in the development of pressure sores will also be discussed.