Nutritional status and survival among old adults: an 11-year population-based longitudinal study

Background/Objectives:The impact of nutritional status on survival among community-dwelling older adults is unclear. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and association of poor nutritional status, including malnutrition and risk for malnutrition defined by the Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF) with survival, and to explore the role of relevant biomarkers (hemoglobin, albumin and C-reactive protein) in this association.Subjects/Methods:This study included 3041 participants aged ⩾60 in the Swedish National study on Aging and Care-Kungsholmen. On the basis of the total score in MNA-SF, nutritional status for each participant was assessed as normal (score 12–14), risk for malnutrition (8–11) or malnutrition (<8). Over an 11-year follow-up, survival status was observed. Data were analysed using logistic regression, flexible parametric survival and Laplace models.Results:Of all the participants, 51 (1.7%) had malnutrition and 751 (24.7%) were at risk for malnutrition. The multi-adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) of mortality was 2.40 (1.56−3.67; P<0.001) for malnutrition and 1.49 (1.29−1.71; P<0.001) for risk for malnutrition. The median ages at death of participants with malnutrition and risk for malnutrition were ~3 and 1.5 years shorter than those with normal nutritional status, respectively, whereas malnutrition or risk for malnutrition together with abnormal biomarker (hemoglobin and albumin) levels was related to 1 year more shortened survival.Conclusions:Malnutrition and risk for malnutrition are highly prevalent and significantly associated with a shorter survival. Poor nutritional status in combination with abnormalities in the biomarkers is associated with even more shortened survival.