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. 2025 Mar 27;16(4):1493–1505. doi: 10.1007/s41999-025-01187-y

Table 1.

Descriptive characteristics of patients according to the presence of malnutrition based on GLIM criteria

Descriptive characteristics All groups (n = 669) Malnutrition ( +) (n = 147) Malnutrition ( – ) (n = 522) p
%(n) Mean ± SD %(n) Mean ± SD %(n) Mean ± SD
Age (years) 75.5 ± 7.7 77.0 ± 7.6 75.0 ± 7.7 0.002*
Sex
 Female 55.2 (369) 51.0 (75) 56.3 (294) 0.254**
Marital status
 Married 74.1 (496) 70.1 (103) 75.3 (393) 0.202**
Education level
 Primary school and below 83.1 (556) 84.4 (124) 82.2 (432) 0.648**
Smoking
 Current smoker 6.1 (41) 97.3 (143) 92.9 (485) 0.051**
Alcohol consumption
 Yes 1.0 (7) 0.0 (0) 1.3 (7) 0.158**
Comorbidities
 Yes 60.2 (403) 67.3 (99) 58.2 (304) 0.046**
Surgical operation in the last 3 months
 Yes 20.8 (139) 18.4 (27) 21.5 (112) 0.415**
Food allergy
 Yes 3.3 (22) 4.1 (6) 3.1 (16) 0.542**
Nutritional route
 Oral 95.1 (636) 85.0 (125) 97.9 (511)  < 0.001**
 Oral + enteral 2.5 (17) 8.8 (13) 0.8 (4)
 Other*** 2.4 (16) 6.1 (9) 1.3 (7)
Disease-specific diet status
 Yes 45.0 (301) 34.0 (50) 48.1 (251) 0.002**
Hospitalization unit
 Internal units 81.5 (545) 85.7 (126) 80.3 (419) 0.133**
 Hospitalization(day) 4.2 ± 8.1 5.6 ± 15.0 3.8 ± 4.6 0.005*
Anthropometric measurement
 Weight (kg) 72.9 ± 14.7 65.3 ± 14.5 75.2 ± 14.0  < 0.001
 Height (cm) 163.4 ± 8.5 163.3 ± 8.7 163.4 ± 8.5 0.885
 BMI (kg/m2) 27.3 ± 5.2 24.4 ± 4.7 28.2 ± 5.1  < 0.001
 MUAC (cm) 28.5 ± 4.1 26.5 ± 3.9 29.1 ± 3.9  < 0.001
 Calf circumference (cm) 33.9 ± 4.6 31.6 ± 4.4 34.5 ± 4.5  < 0.001

BMI Body Mass Index. MUAC Mid-Upper Arm Circumference

*Mann–Whitney U test

**Pearson Chi-Square test (Column percentage)

***Enteral, Parenteral, Enteral + Parenteral