NUTRITION AND OLDER PEOPLE Revisiting the concept of malnutrition in older people Cheryl Chia-Hui Chen DNSc, GNP Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University School of Nursing & National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Ya-Ying Bai RN, BSN Graduate Student, National Taiwan University School of Nursing, Taipei, Taiwan Guan-Hua Huang PhD Associate Professor, National Chiao Tung University Institute of Statistics, Hsinchu, Taiwan Siew Tzuh Tang RN, DNSc Associate Professor, Chang Gung University School of Nursing, Kwei-Shan Tao-Yuan, Taiwan Submitted for publication: 24 April 2006 Accepted for publication: 9 September 2006 Correspondence: Siew Tzuh Tang Associate Professor Chang Gung University School of Nursing 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road Kwei-Shan Tao-Yuan Taiwan Telephone: 8863 2118800 ext. 3417 E-mail: sttang@mail.cgu.edu.tw CHEN CC-H, BAI Y-Y, HUANG G-H & TANG ST (2007) CHEN CC-H, BAI Y-Y, HUANG G-H & TANG ST (2007) Journal of Clinical Nursing 16, 2015–2026 Revisiting the concept of malnutrition in older people Aim. The aim of this study is to revisit the concept of malnutrition in older people, trace the new development and test the use of refined framework with empirical data. Background. Malnutrition in older people is a common and significant problem worldwide. Continuing Chen’s earlier work in 2001, a refinement was conducted and a prospective study was designed to test the use of this refined framework. Design. A cohort study of 114 hospitalized older patients in Northern Taiwan. Methods. The sample consists of 114 older patients aged 65 years and older, who were admitted for the cardiac and orthopaedic services at a tertiary 2300-bed hospital. From March to August 2004, assessed by one trained nurse, participants completed a structured face-to-face interview evaluating their age, visual/hearing impairments, oral health, cognitive status, comorbidities, medication use, social economic status, functional status, social support, depressive symptoms and nutri- tional status within 48 hours of admission. Participants who stayed >5 days were reassessed before discharge (n ¼ 70). The data from admission were the main focus of this report. Results. Regression analysis revealed that that more medication taken, female gender, lower functional status (beta ¼ 0Æ34, P < 0Æ001) and higher depressive symptoms were independent predictors of poor nutritional status, with the full model accounting for 48Æ2% of the variance. The result is in-line with the original theoretical underpinnings and it suggests that this refined framework detailing sub-concepts and measurable indices appears to fit the empirical data and suitable for clinical use. Ó 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation Ó 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2015 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01867.x