Hygiena 2023, 68(3):94-98 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1833

Impact of malnutrition on fall risk in geriatric patients

Jaroslav Madleňák, Ivana Bóriková

Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Jesseniova lekárska fakulta v Martine, Ústav ošetrovateľstva, Martin, Slovenská republika

Aim: Malnutrition, as one of the significant risk factors for falling, causes adverse consequences for the patient. The progression of malnutrition and the risk of falling increases significantly with age and contributes to the repeated hospitalisation of the geriatric patient. Identification, analysis and synthesis of studies related to malnutrition as a risk factor for falls in hospitalised geriatric patients.

Method: We carried out the literature review on licensed electronic databases PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science in the period 2005-2022. Of total number of 2,743 studies studied, we included five in the final analysis.

Results: The analysed studies confirmed the association between malnutrition and the risk of falls in the geriatric patient population. Patients aged ≥ 80 years, BMI < 20 and the presence of hypoproteinaemia or hypoalbuminaemia led to reduced mobility and self-sufficiency, increased risk of falls, increased incidence of falls and recurrent falls with consequent injury during hospitalisation.

Conclusion: Malnutrition in hospitalised geriatric patients is associated with impaired mobility, increased risk of falls, reduced quality of life and increased mortality. Nurses are competent in identifying the patient at risk and to carry out objective screening for the risk of malnutrition and falls during hospitalisation.

Keywords: geriatric patient, malnutrition, fall risk

Received: March 2023; Accepted: June 5, 2023; Published: September 30, 2023  Show citation