Nutritional status as a predictor of comprehensive activities of daily living function and quality of life in patients with stroke

BACKGROUND: Nutritional status could affect functional capacity and reduce quality of life in patients with stroke. Although the associations between nutritional status, basic activities of daily living (BADL)/Instrumental ADL, and quality of life (QOL) in older people have been identified, the relationships have not yet been examined in patients with stroke, using the full Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) or MNA-short form (MNA-SF). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship between nutritional status (using full MNA and MNA-SF), comprehensive ADL function, and QOL in patients with stroke. METHODS: Eighty-two patients with ischemic stroke participated in this cross-sectional design study. Each participant was assessed with the full MNA, MNA-SF, comprehensive ADL function (including Barthel Index and Frenchay Activities Index), and WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) once. RESULTS: The MNA-SF was only significantly correlated with the comprehensive ADL function (rho = 0.27, p = 0.013), whereas, the fullMNA was found to be significantly correlated with the comprehensive ADL function and WHOQOL-BREF (rho = 0.24, p = 0.029 and rho = 0.30, p = 0.005, respectively). The MNA-SF was a significant predictor of comprehensive ADL function, accounting for 44% of the variance. The fullMNA was the only significant predictor of the WHOQOL-BREF, explaining 17% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: This study has revealed a relationship between nutritional status, comprehensive ADL function, and QOL among patients with stroke. Patients with stroke with better nutritional status had higher ADL function as well as better QOL. The MNA-SF was useful in predicting comprehensive ADL, whereas, the full MNA could be used to predict QOL. Knowledge and evidence of the association and predictive power of the MNA-SF and full MNA could guide clinicians to choose tools for assessing the nutritional status of patients with stroke more effectively.