A six months' prospective follow-up of 65+-y-old patients from general practice classified according to nutritional risk by the Mini Nutritional Assessment.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of old people at risk of undernutrition according to the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), characterise the at risk group with regard to nutritional state, energy intake, and physical and mental functioning, and to assess the consequences of the MNA score over a 6 month period. DESIGN: A cross-sectional prospective study. SETTING: The clinic of a general practitioner. SUBJECTS: Ninety-four patients 65+-y-old with no acute illness contacted at the clinic. Sixty-one subjects (65%) agreed to participate at baseline and 34 (56%) showed up at the follow-up 6 months later. RESULTS: At baseline, 23 (38%) participants were assessed as being at risk of undernutrition (17-23.5 MNA points). The remaining were classified as well-nourished (>23.5 MNA points). The 23 participants at risk had a higher prevalence of body mass index (BMI)