ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to determine the malnutrition statuses of patients with systolic heart failure in Trakya University Hospital and Edirne Sultan 1st Murat State Hospital.

Mini Nutritional Assessment was used to determine the patients’ malnutrition statuses. In addition, patients’ transthoracic echocardiography results, biochemistry tests, hemograms, medications and habits were evaluated with patients’ nutritional scores. One-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparing the results and Pearsonχ2 test and Fischer’s exact test were used to obtain categorical data.

The total number of subjects in the study was 66 (61 patients from Trakya University Hospital; 5 patients from Edirne Sultan 1st Murat State Hospital). The mean age of all subjects was 65.3 ± 11.1. Out of all patients, 17 of them were female, while 49 of them were male. The mean Mini Nutrition Assessment score was 21.9 ± 4.7. In total, 34 patients had an adequate nutritional status, 25 patients were at risk of malnutrition and 7 patients were malnourished.

Although malnourished patients were detected, well – nourished patients were higher. Therefore, it could be said that patients with heart failure are conscious of their health and diet. It is crucial for the health care providers to maintain giving advices on healthy living and nutrition to keep this elderly population well–nourished.

Keywords: Nutrition assessment, systolic heart failure, malnutrition