Die Wertigkeit des Body Mass Index (BMI) beim geriatrischen Patienten

Nina Brosch
2009 unpublished
Objective: The study was performed to find out if evaluating the nutritional status of elderly patients by Body Mass Index reflects the nutritional status of elderly patients effectively. Methods: Anthropometrical data from 210 patients were taken to fix the Body Mass Index. Body Composition was measured by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). Serological data like total protein and albumin were taken. Results: Correlations of the BIA-data showed the most significant coherency between phase
more » ... ngle and total protein. ROC Curve Analysis showed that the highest sensitivity for malnutrition is that on total protein, followed by BMI measured by the author, body weight, BMI measured by the staff and serum-albumin. Depending on the parameters applied for the evaluation, the prevalence of malnutrition varied between 16.2% (BMI) and 59.5% (phase angle). Conclusion: The use of BMI as a sole single parameter for the assessment of the nutritional status in elderly patients can be misleading. Nevertheless, the BMI will remain a useful indicator for evaluation of geriatric patients, especially in combination with other clinical scores. However, standardised methods for evaluating the body height by measuring the knee height with a vernier caliper and measuring the body weight with a seating scale, should be established. Furthermore it will be necessary to provide consistent reference values for the evaluation of BMI, concerning age, gender and ethnical as well as cultural characteristics. The use of BIA as a golden standard to determine the nutritional status in elderly patients should be considered.
doi:10.25365/thesis.3468 fatcat:ktvcj6k7vzc45pi7q6a444ccsa