Nutritional assessment interpretation on 22 007 Spanish community-dwelling elders through the Mini Nutritional Assessment test

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of undernutrition among community-dwelling elderly people in Spain using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and to analyse its distribution according to age, gender and residence region. Design: Cross-sectional study assessing the nutritional status of elderly persons through both the short form and the full version of the MNA test. Setting: Pharmacy offices across the whole country (Spain) were enrolled to recruit participants. Subjects: A total of 22 007 participants (8014 men and 13 993 women), aged >= 65 years, assessed during the last two months of 2005. Results: According to MNA screening, 4.3% subjects were classified as undernourished (MNA score <17) and 25.4% were at risk of undernutrition (MNA score >= 17 to <= 23.5). The MNA short form correlated strongly with the full MNA version (r = 0.85). MNA total score was significantly higher in men than in women (25.4 (SD 3.7) v. 24.6 (SD 3.9); P < 0.001) and lower in the oldest than in the youngest subjects (P < 0.001) in both genders. According to regional distribution, the best nutritional status was found in elderly from the north of Spain excluding the north-west area. Conclusions: Female gender, older age and living in the south half or northwest of the country were associated with higher rates of undernutrition among community-dwelling elderly persons in Spain.