Abstract
Objectives
The aim of this study was to assess health economics evidence published to date on
malnutrition costs in institutionalized or community-dwelling older adults.
Design
A systematic search of the literature published until December 2013 was performed
using standard literature, international and national electronic databases, including
MedLine/PubMed, Cochrane Library, ISI WOK, SCOPUS, MEDES, IBECS, and Google Scholar.
Publications identified referred to the economic burden and use of medical resources
associated with malnutrition (or risk of malnutrition) in institutionalized or community-dwelling
older adults, written in either English or Spanish. Costs were updated to 2014 (€).
Results
A total of 9 studies of 46 initially retrieved met the preestablished criteria and
were submitted to thorough scrutiny. All publications reviewed involved studies conducted
in Europe, and the results regarding the contents of all the studies showed that total
costs associated with malnutrition in institutionalized and community-dwelling older
adults were considerably higher than those of well-nourished ones, mainly due to a
higher use of health care resources (GP consultations, hospitalizations, health care
monitoring, and treatments). Interventions to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition,
such as the use of oral nutritional supplements, showed an important decrease in-hospital
admissions and medical visits.
Conclusion
Malnutrition is associated with higher health care costs in institutionalized or community-dwelling
older adults. The adoption of nutritional interventions, such as oral nutritional
supplements, may have an important impact in reducing annual health care costs per
patient.
Keywords
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Article info
Footnotes
All authors, except Núria Barcons, declare no conflict of interest.
Funded by a grant from Nestlé Health Science. Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa Fragilidad y Envejecimiento-RETICEF-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, España RD12/43 provided support to develop this project.
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© 2016 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
