Dietitians call for routine screeing program for malnutrition.

Resident malnutrition is back in the news with a Queensland Health briefing paper that found malnutrition is “highly prevalent” in aged care facilities.

It said malnutrition could be costing Queensland more than $13 million a year. It was blamed for extended hospital stays and causing illness and disease.

Queensland Health’s patient safety centre conducted a six-month investigation into malnutrition in acute and aged care in 2008, the Courier Mail reported.

It found that 30 per cent of hospital patients and 50 per cent of aged care facility residents suffered from malnutrition.

The report has prompted the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) to call on the government to introduce a routine screening program for malnutrition in hospitals and nursing homes.

“Malnutrition is a silent epidemic. We’ve heard so much about obesity but it’s important not to overlook this terrible health problem and the unnecessary suffering it is causing at a huge cost to the tax payer, Claire Hewat, CEO of the DAA told INsite.

“Malnutrition has a devastating impact on a person’s quality of life. If you are malnourished, you’re more likely to get infections like bed ulcers and medical complications, which often means you have to stay longer in hospital or have to be re-admitted.

“And it’s not just the pain and suffering involved, hospitals could save millions of dollars – as this Queensland Health paper has shown. The DAA is calling on the government to bring in a routine screening program for malnutrition in hospitals and nursing homes. The cost savings this would bring could be used for attacking waiting lists and save unnecessary pain and suffering for patients and their families – so it’s worth doing,” she said.

Last year, a controversial Queensland University of Technology study also found half of aged care residents were malnourished (INsite, Feb / March 2009).

The findings, published in the Australasian Journal of Ageing, received widespread coverage, including criticism from the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot. She called on anyone concerned about nutrition issues in a nursing home to contact the complaints investigation scheme.

The research found staff awareness of early intervention nutrition strategies was “variable”. It said there was a need for a systematic, coordinated and multi-disciplinary approach to nutritional care of the elderly.