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a University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine
b VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Sepulveda, California
c Programe Vida Als Anys, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain
d Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
e Service de Médicine Interne et Gérontologique Clinique, Hôpitaux de Toulouse, France
Laurence Z. Rubenstein, Director GRECC (11E) VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 16111 Plummer St., Sepulveda, CA 91343 E-mail: lzrubens{at}ucla.edu.
Decision Editor: John E. Morley, MB, BCh
| Abstract |
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Methods. We reanalyzed data from France that were used to develop the original MNA and combined these with data collected in Spain and New Mexico. Of the 881 subjects with complete MNA data, 151 were from France, 400 were from Spain, and 330 were from New Mexico. Independent ratings of clinical nutritional status were available for 142 of the French subjects. Overall, 73.8% were community dwelling, and mean age was 76.4 years. Items were chosen for the MNA-SF on the basis of item correlation with the total MNA score and with clinical nutritional status, internal consistency, reliability, completeness, and ease of administration.
Results. After testing multiple versions, we identified an optimal six-item MNA-SF total score ranging from 0 to 14. The cut-point score for MNA-SF was calculated using clinical nutritional status as the gold standard (n = 142) and using the total MNA score (n = 881). The MNA-SF was strongly correlated with the total MNA score (r = .945). Using an MNA-SF score of
11 as normal, sensitivity was 97.9%, specificity was 100%, and diagnostic accuracy was 98.7% for predicting undernutrition.
Conclusions. The MNA-SF can identify persons with undernutrition and can be used in a two-step screening process in which persons, identified as "at risk" on the MNA-SF, would receive additional assessment to confirm the diagnosis and plan interventions.
NUTRITIONAL deficiency is common and serious in older adults. Up to 15% of ambulatory outpatients, 35% to 65% of elderly hospital patients, and 25% to 60% of institutionalized older adults have been reported as malnourished (1)(2)(3)(4). Whereas some malnourishment stems from underlying illness, much is due simply to inadequate intake, which should be reversible if detected.
Detecting nutritional problems in older persons has been recommended in population screening and as part of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) (1)(5)(6)(7). Thus, valid effective techniques are needed for both screening and diagnosis. To meet this need, several instruments have been developed by researchers and professional task forces (1)(2)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10).
The Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), a recent and extensively tested instrument, fulfills many criteria for both screening and diagnostic measures. It was developed and validated on large representative samples of elderly persons worldwide. It identifies persons at nutritional risk, provides information needed for intervention planning, and does not require laboratory data (4)(11). However, its complexity and length impede its use as a brief screening tool. Several questions require special training (e.g., anthropometrics) or subjective judgments. Whereas components of a geriatric assessment typically take under 5 minutes to administer (12), the MNA takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to administer (13). This is a reasonable length for a diagnostic test but is perhaps too long for a screener in a primary care setting. Shortening the MNA would be worthwhile if the short form retained the validity and usefulness of the original.
In this study we have derived a short-form version (the MNA-SF) from the full MNA. We sought to create an assessment tool that preserves diagnostic accuracy while minimizing the time and training needed for administration and is therefore brief enough for widespread screening.
| Methods |
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Deriving the MNA-SF
We used several criteria to identify the best questions for the MNA-SF: (i) good correlation with the full MNA score; (ii) good individual diagnostic characteristics (i.e., high sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy) on the basis of independent clinical assessment of nutritional status as either "adequately nourished" or "undernourished"; and (iii) high internal consistency for the item set. We avoided items that were redundant, required special training to administer, involved difficult subjective recall, or produced too many missing or "don't know" answers.
Complete MNA data were available for most of the population (n = 151). As described elsewhere (4), the MNA consists of 18 questions in 4 categories: anthropometric measurements (four questions), global assessment (six questions), dietary questions (six questions), and self-perception of health and nutrition (two questions). Individual questions have weighted scores. The full scale ranges from 0 to 30 and is interpreted as follows:
24 indicates "well-nourished," 17 to 23.5 indicates "at risk of malnutrition," and <17 indicates "malnourished."
Pearson correlations were examined between each item and the MNA total score. Items poorly correlated with total score were candidates for exclusion. Interitem correlations were also examined; none was high enough to indicate item redundancy.
Next, we looked at internal consistency (coefficient alpha) using item analysis procedures (Systat 7.0, Chicago, IL and Crunch 4.1, Oakland, CA). The 18 items of the MNA are ordinarily treated as a single scale. Item analysis procedures report the alpha for all 18 items and the change in alpha if any item is excluded. If excluding an item would produce no change or an increase in alpha, thereby increasing overall internal consistency, that item was a candidate for exclusion. Successive calculations of internal consistency were done with the best remaining 15, 12, 9, 6, 5, and 4 items.
Finally, we calculated sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy for each item using physician judgment of clinical nutritional status as the gold standard. This judgment was made by two physicians who were trained in nutrition and who had no knowledge of the MNA score. Judgments were made independently with subsequent resolution of disagreements and were made on the basis of anthropometrics, weight loss, albumin, 1 month food intake diary, weighed food intake over 3 days, and medical record information.
We identified and tested a "best" short form version against the full MNA to see if accuracy were lost or if items should be restored. Sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy for the final MNA-SF were compared with those for the full MNA, measured against both physician-judged clinical nutritional status and low serum albumin. Threshold values for the MNA-SF were chosen using receiver-operating curves (ROCs) of diagnostic accuracy.
Extension to Other Populations
Two independent samples of patients who completed the full MNA were used to further test the MNA-SF. The Mataró, Spain sample included 114 elderly persons in a subacute convalescent unit, 89 elderly persons in a large board-and-care facility, and 199 independently community-dwelling elderly persons (16). The Albuquerque, New Mexico sample included 347 healthy elderly subjects from the New Mexico Aging Process Study (17). Table 1 compares these two samples and the Toulouse-91 sample. The primary difference among these samples was the proportion of community-dwelling participants: approximately one third of the Toulouse sample, half the Mataró sample, and all but one of the Albuquerque sample were community dwelling.
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There were clear differences among these three samples, including language, nationality, and proportions recruited from institutions. By pooling the samples, we took advantage of this wide diversity to see how effectively the MNA-SF identified persons in the combined data set who were nutritionally at risk. We also examined diagnostic accuracy of the MNA-SF in the pooled sample separately for institutionalized and community-dwelling subjects. Whereas data pooling for purposes of regression modeling or hypothesis testing (e.g., in multisite data used in multiple regression or factor analysis) ordinarily requires tests demonstrating homogeneity across samples or methods to control for sample differences, our intent was to create a large heterogeneous sample with good representation of both frail and healthy older adults.
To further validate the MNA-SF items, stepwise discriminant analysis was performed on all 18 items using a 50% random sample of 902 cases from all three sites and cross validated on the remaining 50%. Our purpose was to identify items that best discriminated between the malnourished, at-risk, and normal groups on the full MNA. If the items selected by this procedure were the same as those selected by clinical nutritional status in the Toulouse-91 sample, we would have confirmation that we had selected the best items for the MNA-SF.
| Results |
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Successively deleting items in the item analysis yielded the same six-item scale with good internal consistency (alpha coefficient = .843) compared with .865 for the full MNA. Reducing the item set to five and four items reduced internal consistency.
As shown in Fig. 1, the correlation between the MNA-SF and the full MNA is high (r = .969). We used a score of 10 or less (out of 14) on the MNA-SF to indicate possible undernutrition and a score of 11 or more to indicate normal nutrition. In the original sample, all persons identified on the MNA as "malnourished" (MNA score <17) and all but two "at risk" persons (MNA score 1723) would have been detected on the MNA-SF as "undernourished" (sensitivity = 97.9% [96/98], specificity = 100% [53/53], and diagnostic accuracy = 98.7%). Table 2 shows that the diagnostic accuracy of the full MNA (97.2%) is indistinguishable from the MNA-SF (96.5%) in detecting persons clinically judged "undernourished."
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10 out of 14 with a diagnostic accuracy of 98.7%.
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Fig. 3 shows the relationship between the MNA and MNA-SF scores using the combined sample of 881. Pearson correlation was .945 (p < .0001). As with the original sample, all persons classified as malnourished on the full MNA were also classified as at risk for undernutrition on the MNA-SF. The only misclassifications were in the MNA "at risk" category, with 49 false negatives (8.6%). Using a cut-point of
11 as normal nutrition, the MNA-SF has a sensitivity of 97.9%, a specificity of 100%, and an overall diagnostic accuracy of 98.7% for predicting "malnutrition" on the full MNA; 64.7% screened out as normal.
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11. However, increasing sensitivity by raising the threshold for "normal" to
12 could be considered (see Fig. 3), because failing to identify a malnourished person may be of greater concern than requiring additional evaluation for people with normal nutrition who mistakenly screen in. Using this more sensitive threshold (
12) in the combined sample, there were only 24 false negatives (4.9%); however, only 56% of the people tested were screened out as "normal," raising the false positive rate. Fig. 4 shows the ROC curve for the combined sample, illustrating the sensitivityspecificity trade-off in setting the cut-point at 11 or 12. The area under the curve is 0.961.
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| Discussion |
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In this analysis, we shortened the MNA while preserving its accuracy. The MNA-SF has 6 questions instead of 18, eliminates time-consuming and subjective items, and can be administered in approximately 3 minutes. Whereas height and weight measurement do involve time and training, particularly with bed-bound persons or amputees, these measures are relatively easy to obtain and are often available in patient records. The MNA-SF has high diagnostic accuracy relative to clinical nutritional status, high correlation with the full MNA (r = .945), and is as good as the MNA in predicting serum albumin.
A rational strategy for nutritional screening in the elderly population is needed. Data presented here suggest that nutritional screening can be performed efficiently and effectively using the MNA-SF in a two-step screening process as proposed in Fig. 5. In the first step, the MNA-SF would be administered to patients undergoing CGA or periodic health risk appraisal. The second step entails confirming the diagnosis for persons identified as "at risk" by the MNA-SF and planning needed interventions (e.g., nutritional supplementation and specific assistance with meals) by administering the full MNA, which provides additional clinically useful information, and/or performing further assessments (e.g., laboratory studies and evaluation by a dietitian). Following further validation of the MNA-SF on different populations, this two-step strategy must be tested in clinical trials. If the population screened were similar to the community-dwelling subgroup of our pooled sample, this strategy would classify 77% of the population as normal and thus reduce the need for further evaluation. Of the 23% of subjects classified as "at risk" (MNA-SF <11), approximately 20% would be false positives and 80% would be confirmed by the full MNA as needing further assessment and intervention. In a frail population, fewer individuals would be expected to screen out by the MNA-SF, resulting in smaller savings in screening resources. For example, most nursing home residents would likely be classified as "undernourished" by the MNA-SF. Thus, administering the full MNA to nursing home residents might be simpler.
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| Acknowledgments |
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Received January 23, 1999
Accepted June 20, 2000
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