Prevalence of Malnutrition Assessed by the GLIM Criteria and Association with Activities of Daily Living in Older Residents in an Integrated Facility for Medical and Long-Term Care

Malnutrition is associated with poor functional outcomes in residents in long-term care facilities. The integrated facility for medical and long-term care (IFMLC) is a new Japanese long-term care facility where medical services can be provided. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition diagnosed based on the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria and its association with activities of daily living (ADL) in older residents in IFMLC. In this cross-sectional study of older residents, we diagnosed mild and severe malnutrition using the GLIM criteria and assessed ADLs using the Barthel index (BI). Multivariate regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between BI score and GLIM-defined malnutrition. A total of 117 older residents (84 women; median age, 88 years) were analyzed in this study. The prevalence values of mild and severe malnutrition were 29% and 18%, respectively. Multivariate analyses for the BI score after adjusting for potential confounders showed that mild and severe malnutrition were independently associated with BI score (B = -6.113, p < 0.046; B = -8.411, p = 0.015, respectively). GLIM-defined malnutrition is negatively associated with ADLs in older residents in IFMLC.

Automated summary

This study investigated the prevalence of malnutrition and its association with activities of daily living in older residents in a Japanese long-term care facility. The results showed a negative association between malnutrition and daily living abilities.