Win A Z, Ceresa C, Arnold K, Allison T A
Aung Zaw Win, MD, MA, MPH, Research Assistant, Nutrition and Food Services, San Francisco VA Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco CA 94121; (415) 672 6209 (phone); (650) 756 2778 (fax);
J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(6):610-613. doi: 10.1007/s12603-017-0918-z.
Elderly Veterans enrolled in VA Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) programs suffer from many diseases including malnutrition. Nutrition screening tools exist in the VA system but they are inconsistently utilized across ambulatory care programs and are neither research validated nor comparable with non-VA populations. The Mini-Nutritional Assessment short-form (MNA-SF) has been validated in international studies in a variety of settings. The primary aim of this study was to find the prevalence of malnutrition among Veterans enrolled in HBPC programs. The secondary objective was to determine the feasibility of adopting a validated nutrition screening tool (Mini-Nutritional Assessment short-form (MNA-SF)).
2252 veterans age 65 and older from 18 HBPC programs from across the country participated in the study. The study period was between April and September 2012. WinPepi (version 11.25) was used for descriptive analysis.
We found that the prevalence of malnutrition was 15% (344/2252) and the prevalence of at risk for malnutrition was 40.3% (909/2252).
The MNA-SF is an efficient nutrition screening tool and it can be successfully used for the elderly veterans. The prevalence of malnutrition among veterans was high compared to the community dwelling U.S. civilian elderly population. By preventing and treating malnutrition, health care systems should be able to reduce overall health care costs.
参加退伍军人事务部（VA）家庭初级保健（HBPC）项目的老年退伍军人患有多种疾病，包括营养不良。VA系统中有营养筛查工具，但在门诊护理项目中使用并不一致，且未经研究验证，也无法与非VA人群进行比较。简易营养评估简表（MNA-SF）已在各种环境的国际研究中得到验证。本研究的主要目的是找出参加HBPC项目的退伍军人中营养不良的患病率。次要目标是确定采用经过验证的营养筛查工具（简易营养评估简表（MNA-SF））的可行性。
来自全国18个HBPC项目的2252名65岁及以上退伍军人参与了该研究。研究期间为2012年4月至9月。使用WinPepi（版本11.25）进行描述性分析。
我们发现营养不良的患病率为15%（344/2252），营养不良风险的患病率为40.3%（909/2252）。
MNA-SF是一种有效的营养筛查工具，可成功用于老年退伍军人。与居住在社区的美国老年平民人口相比，退伍军人中营养不良的患病率较高。通过预防和治疗营养不良，医疗保健系统应能够降低总体医疗保健成本。
