MORE than one in five elderly people admitted to Williamstown Hospital were malnourished, a study by Western Health Service shows.
The study analysed 75 patients admitted to the hospital’s aged care and rehabilitation unit over three months in 2004.
It also found that a further 41 per cent of elderly patients were at risk of becoming malnourished.
The study looked at re-admission rates, recovery times and length of stay and included elderly people still living at home, in nursing homes or retirement villages.
Karon Markovski, Williamstown Hospital dietician and one of the study’s authors, said elderly patients were screened using a “nutritional assessment tool” consisting of a questionnaire and an evaluation of body mass index and weight loss profile.
Ms Markovski said addressing malnutrition in the elderly population was vital to the future of health care as the percentage of elderly people increased in Australia.
She said early intervention and a more rigorous screening program would help alleviate the problem, although detecting all cases would be extremely difficult.
“We should be screening people much more quickly once they come into hospital. We need to catch them early which is often exactly what we are not doing,” Ms Markovski said.
Malnutrition in elderly people is connected to many serious conditions resulting from reduced immune system function, balance problems and lowered bone density.
Victorian Association of Health and Extended Care acting CEO Jeannene Stewart said ensuring elderly people eat well was one of the most difficult and time-consuming aspects of aged care.
Ms Stewart said although the figure quoted in the report was higher than she had expected, there were many reasons elderly people could be malnourished.
Dementia and loss of physical ability during ageing are important factors.
She said the elderly often take several types of medication, some of which reduced appetite and created an unpleasant taste in the mouth, leading patients to avoid eating.
“They eat less, they feel they want to eat less or not at all.”
AMA Victoria president Mark Yates described the findings as “significant” and called for increased vigilance from health care professionals and the community to ensure the elderly receive proper nutrition.
Dr Yates said lack of financial support from the Federal Government was a direct cause of malnutrition in elderly people living in aged care facilities.
“If you are only funding meals for $1.50 per person, per day for all meals, good nutrition is just not going to be achieved.
“So long as the Federal Government continues to provide meals at that level, we are going to have problems with nutrition in the aged care environment.”
Elderly people typically went to hospital late into an illness, during which time their nutrition will also have suffered, he said.
Dr Yates also called for more “awareness and surveillance of the elderly upon their arrival in hospital” and for improved dental services, to be given to elderly people free or at reduced cost.
