Table 3.
Baseline characteristics of patients (n 353) on admission to ED according to nutrition status as categorised by the MNA-SF
| MNA-SF categories | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics, n (%) or mean (SD) or median (IQR) | Full sample n = 353 |
Normal nutrition n = 227 |
At risk of malnutrition n = 99 |
Malnourished n = 27 |
p-value (effect size) | |
| Demographic information | ||||||
| Sex | Male | 144 (40.8) | 101 (44.5) | 36 (36.4) | 7 (25.9) | 0.10 (0.11) |
| Female | 209 (59.2) | 126 (55.5) | 63 (63.6) | 20 (71.4) | ||
| Age | 60–74 | 83 (23.5) | 60 (26.4) | 21 (21.2) | 2 (7.4) | 0.19 (0.09) |
| 75–84 | 171 (48.4) | 108 (47.6) | 49 (49.5) | 14 (51.9) | ||
| 85+ | 99 (28.0) | 59 (26.0) | 29 (29.3) | 11 (40.7) | ||
| Marital status | Married | 135 (38.2) | 94 (41.8) | 34 (34.7) | 7 (25.9) | 0.29 (0.11) |
| Single | 51 (14.4) | 33 (14.7) | 14 (14.3) | 4 (14.8) | ||
| Divorced | 11 (3.1) | 5 (2.2) | 6 (6.1) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Widowed | 153 (43.3) | 93 (41.3) | 44 (44.9) | 16 (59.3) | ||
| Residential status | Lives alone | 153 (43.3) | 103 (45.4) | 39 (39.4) | 11 (40.7) | 0.46 (0.07) |
| Lives with family | 183 (51.8) | 115 (50.7) | 55 (55.6) | 13 (48.1) | ||
| Other | 17 (4.8) | 9 (4.0) | 5 (5.1) | 3 (11.1) | ||
| Mode of Entry | Ambulance | 171 (48.4) | 98 (43.2) | 57 (57.6) | 16 (59.3) | 0.17 (0.10) |
| Private Transport | 177 (50.1) | 125 (55.1) | 41 (41.4) | 11 (40.7) | ||
| Public Transport / walk in | 5 (1.4) | 4 (1.8) | 1 (1.0) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Source of Referral | GP | 124 (35.1) | 75 (33.0) | 36 (36.4) | 13 (48.1) | 0.05 (0.12) |
| Self-referral | 210 (59.5) | 140 (61.7) | 60 (60.6) | 10 (37.0) | ||
| Otherb | 19 (5.4) | 12 (5.3) | 3 (3.0) | 4 (14.8) | ||
| Presenting Problem | Acute disease / injury (moderate) | 317 (89.8) | 204 (89.9) | 88 (88.9) | 25 (92.6) | 0.12 (0.10) |
| Acute disease / injury (severe) | 23 (6.5) | 18 (7.9) | 5 (5.1) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Gastro complaint | 13 (3.7) | 5 (2.2) | 6 (6.1) | 2 (7.4) | ||
| Triage | Orange | 36 (10.2) | 25 (11.0) | 9 (9.1) | 2 (7.4) | 0.74 (0.06) |
| Yellow | 295 (83.6) | 187 (82.4) | 83 (83.8) | 25 (92.6) | ||
| Green | 22 (6.2) | 15 (6.6) | 7 (7.1) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| EQ-5D totalc | 12 (6) | 11 (6) | 12 (7) | 15 (6.0) | < 0.001 (0.17) | |
| EQ VASc | 60 (30) | 65 (30) | 50 (30) | 50 (20.0) | < 0.001 (0.19) | |
| Barthel indexc | 18 (5) | 18.0 (5) | 17.0 (6.0) | 13.0 (9.0) | < 0.001 (0.32) | |
| ISAR scorea | 2.52 (1.2) | 2.3 (1.2) | 2.8 (1.3) | 3.7 (1.0) | < 0.001 (0.32) | |
| Clinical frailty scorea | 4.1 (1.4) | 3.7 (1.2) | 4.5 (3.7) | 5.6 (1.1) | < 0.001 (0.41) | |
| Falls past 3 months | No | 164 (46.6) | 96 (42.3) | 57 (58.2) | 11 (40.7) | 0.03 (0.14) |
| Yes | 188 (53.4) | 131 (57.7) | 41 (41.8) | 16 (59.3) | ||
| Hospitalised past 6 months | No | 239 (67.9) | 169 (74.8) | 56 (56.6) | 14 (51.9) | 0.001 (0.20) |
| Yes | 113 (32.1) | 57 (25.2) | 43 (43.4) | 13 (48.1) | ||
| Outcome of index visit | ||||||
| PETc | 18.1 (15.1) | 17.2 (14.4) | 18.1 (17.2) | 22.6 (11.4) | < 0.001 (0.22) | |
| Outcome | Admission | 220 (62.3) | 162 (71.4) | 46 (46.5) | 12 (44.4) | < 0.001 (0.19) |
| Discharge home | 95 (26.9) | 46 (20.3) | 40 (40.4) | 9 (33.3) | ||
| Transfer to other hospital | 38 (10.8) | 19 (8.4) | 13 (13.1) | 6 (22.2) | ||
| HoLOSc | 9.0 (15) | 8 (12) | 9 (23) | 10 (12) | 0.21 (0.19) | |
Statistical difference is reported in bold between categories of nutritional status (P ≤ 0.05)
amean (SD) is presented
bother includes injury unit, nursing home, Out of Hours clinic, walk in clinic
cmedian (IQR) is presented
MNA mini nutritional assessment, HoLOS hospital length of stay in days, PET patient length of stay in ED in hours, EQ-5D total quality of life score, EQ VAS visual analogue scale score, ISAR score identification of seniors at risk