Assessment of nutritional status in elderly hospitalised patients with Parkinson's Disease: validation of CONUT and GNRI.

INTRODUCTION

In elderly patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), many motor and non-motor symptoms negatively affect nutritional status and increase the risk of malnutrition. It is important to select a screening tool that is objective, rapid, and reliable for the assessment of nutritional status. The aim of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) and the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score indices in determining malnutrition in elderly hospitalised patients with PD by comparing them with the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Long Form (MNA-LF).

METHODS

The data for the study were collected by the researcher using the face-to-face interview technique. The MNA-Long Form, the GNRI, and the CONUT was calculated.

RESULTS

The study included a total of 94 participants aged between 67 and 78 years. When using CONUT versus MNA-LF, the sensitivity of CONUT was 52.9 % but the specificity was 83.3 %, with a PPV of 90.2 % and a NPV of 37.7 %. When using GNRI versus MNA-LF, the sensitivity of GNRI was 45.7 % but the specificity was 83.3 %, with a PPV of 88.9 % and a NPV of 34.5 %.

CONCLUSION

Elderly hospitalised patients with Parkinson's Disease, when MNA-LF cannot be used, CONUT, an objective, rapid and practical tool, may be an effective approach to assessing malnutrition.