Screening for malnutrition in hospitalised older people: Comparison of the Mini Nutritional Assessment with its short‐form versions

Objective To determine how well the Mini Nutritional Assessment ( MNA ) Short Form ( MNA ‐ SF ) performed as a nutritional screening tool when calf circumference replaced body mass index ( BMI ) as the included anthropometric measurement. Methods A total of 100 patients ≥70 years were recruited from a Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit. Results Mean age of patients was 85.2 (6.1) years. By the full MNA , 40% of patients were malnourished. The MNA correlated highly with both of its short‐form versions ( r  =  0.87 and r  =  0.90 for the BMI and calf circumference versions, respectively). Both MNA ‐ SF versions also showed high accuracy in identifying malnutrition (au ROC values >0.89) . Conclusions The MNA ‐ SF is a rapid and accurate way to screen for malnutrition in hospitalised older adults. Substitution of BMI measurement with the time‐efficient calf circumference measurement maintained MNA ‐ SF accuracy. It is recommended that calf circumference measurement be used for nutritional screening by MNA ‐ SF in a hospital setting.