A Study on the Correlation Between Malnutrition and Short-Term Prognosis in Elderly Emergency Admissions
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background Malnutrition affects patients health and clinical prognosis in multiple ways. Approximately one-quarter of older adults worldwide are at risk of malnutrition or suffer from malnutrition. Malnutrition and malnutrition risk are highly prevalent in emergency patients and are associated with adverse clinical outcomes. However, nutritional risk assessment is not routinely performed for elderly emergency patients in clinical practice, and studies on the nutritional status of elderly emergency patients remain scarce. The short-term prognostic significance of malnutrition in elderly Chinese emergency admissions remains unclear. Methods This retrospective study collected clinical data of elderly patients (≥ 60 years) who visited the Emergency Department of West China Hospital, Sichuan University between May 31, 2019 and December 31, 2023 and were admitted to hospital within 72 hours. We first characterized the nutritional status of elderly patients admitted via the emergency department. Patients were then divided into a malnutrition group and a normal nutrition group based on GNRI and GLIM. PSM was used to match the two groups at the 1:1 ratio. The 28-day survival was compared between the two groups, and short-term survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan–Meier method. Secondary outcomes, including ICU admission rate and total length of hospital stay, were also compared to analyze the impact of malnutrition on short-term prognosis in elderly emergency admissions. Results A total of 7,439 patients were included after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to GNRI assessment, 43.3% of patients had nutritional risk. The nutritional risk group showed statistically significant differences in ICU admission, length of hospital stay, and 28-day mortality compared with the no-risk group (P < 0.05). A total of 4,217 patients without nutritional risk by GNRI were assigned to the normal nutrition group, and 1,658 patients diagnosed with malnutrition by GLIM were assigned to the malnutrition group. Malnutrition significantly reduced 28-day survival in elderly patients (P < 0.001). After PSM, 1,375 patients were successfully matched in each group, with acceptable between-group balance. After adjusting for covariates, the malnutrition group had significantly lower 28-day survival than the normal nutrition group (P = 0.068). There was no significant difference in ICU admission rate between the normal nutrition and malnutrition groups (P = 0.303), while malnutrition significantly prolonged the length of hospital stay (P < 0.001). Conclusions Nutritional risk/malnutrition is common in elderly emergency admissions. Elderly emergency admissions with malnutrition have longer hospital stays and lower 28-day survival rates than those with normal nutrition, with no significant difference in ICU admission rate.
Source: Research Square
Authors: Yang Meng, Zhang Shu
Institution: Sichuan University
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225338880