The mini nutritional assessment (MNA) and its use in grading the nutritional state of elderly patients

The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) has recently been designed and valida ted to provide a single, rapid assessment of nutritional status in elderly patients in outpatient clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes. It has been t ranslated into several languages and validated in many clinics around the w orld. The MNA test is composed of simple measurements and brief questions t hat can be completed in about 10 min. Discriminant analysis was used to com pare the findings of the MNA with the nutritional status determined by phys icians, using the standard extensive nutritional assessment including compl ete anthropometric, clinical biochemistry, and dietary parameters. The sum of the MNA score distinguishes between elderly patients with: 1) adequate n utritional status, MNA greater than or equal to 24; 2) protein-calorie maln utrition, MNA < 17; 3) at risk of malnutrition, MNA between 17 and 23.5. Wi th this scoring, sensitivity was found to be 96%, specificity 98%, and pred ictive value 97%. The MNA scale was also found to be predictive of mortalit y and hospital cost. Most important it is possible to identify people at ri sk for malnutrition, scores between 17 and 23.5, before severe changes in w eight or albumin levels occur. These individuals are more likely to have a decrease in caloric intake that can be easily corrected by nutritional inte rvention. Nutrition 1999;15:116-122. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1999.