B vitamin status, dietary intake and length of stay in a sample of elderly rehabilitation patients.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate the relationships between previous diet, biomarkers of selected B vitamins, nutritional status and length of stay.

DESIGN:

Cross sectional study.

SETTING:

Geriatric rehabilitation patients, Sydney, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS:

Fifty two consenting patients with normal serum creatinine levels and no dementia.

MEASUREMENTS:

Serum vitamin B12, plasma vitamin B6, serum and erythrocyte folate, homocysteine and methylmalonic acid (MMA) concentrations; dietary intake using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and nutritional assessment using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Length of stay data were collected from medical records after discharge.

RESULTS:

The age was 80 ± 8 year (mean ± SD), BMI 26.4 ± 6.8 kg/m2 and MNA score 22 ± 3 indicating some risk of malnutrition. Deficiencies of vitamins B6, B12 and folate were found in 30, 22 and 5 subjects respectively. Length of stay was positively correlated with age and MMA (Spearman's correlation 0.4, p<0.01 and 0.28, p<0.05 respectively) and negatively correlated with albumin, vitamin B6 and MNA score (Spearman's correlation -0.35, -0.33 and -0.29, p<0.05). After adjustment for age and sex, ln vitamin B6 and ln MMA concentrations were significant in predicting ln LOS (p=0.006 and p=0.014 respectively).

CONCLUSION:

The study indicates a high risk of vitamin B deficiencies in the elderly and suggests that deficiencies of vitamins B6 and B12 are associated with length of stay. This is concerning as B vitamin status is rarely fully assessed.

• Authors: F O'Leary, V M Flood, P Petocz, M Allman-Farinelli, S Samman
• Journal: The journal of nutrition, health & aging (J Nutr Health Aging) Vol. 15 Issue 6 Pg. 485-9 (Jun 2011) ISSN: 1760-4788 [Electronic] France
• PMID: 21623471 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Albumins
• Vitamin B Complex
• Methylmalonic Acid

Topics

• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Albumins (metabolism)
• Australia (epidemiology)
• Body Mass Index
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Geriatric Assessment
• Humans
• Incidence
• Length of Stay
• Male
• Methylmalonic Acid (blood)
• Nutrition Assessment
• Nutritional Status
• Rehabilitation Centers
• Vitamin B Complex (administration & dosage, blood)
• Vitamin B Deficiency (blood, epidemiology)