Association between malnutrition risk and pain in older hospital patients.
Silvia Bauer, Manuela Hödl, Doris Eglseer
PMID 33119916WHAT IT FOUND
Older hospital patients with severe or unbearable pain had a 1.439 times higher probability of malnutrition risk than those without pain.
Mild to moderate pain showed no significant association. Screen nutrition status carefully in patients reporting severe pain.
Key findings
01Patients with severe, very severe, or unbearable pain had a 1.439 times higher probability of malnutrition risk than those without pain in the multivariate analysis.
02Malnutrition risk was identified in 24.6% of the total patient sample, and pain was reported by 59.6% of patients.
03Mild or moderate pain was not significantly associated with malnutrition risk in the multivariate model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality between pain and malnutrition risk. Data were collected via convenience sampling, and 26.4% of eligible patients did not give consent, which may affect generalisability. Malnutrition was assessed via screening (MUST) rather than a clinical diagnosis of malnutrition. Pain was measured retrospectively for the previous seven days, which may introduce recall bias. Variables such as length of hospital stay and education level, which influence malnutrition, were not collected.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study used data from the 'Nursing Quality Measurement 2.0', an annual project by the Austrian nursing community.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that all pain increases malnutrition risk. The study found a significant association only for severe, very severe, or unbearable pain. Mild and moderate pain levels did not show a statistically significant link to malnutrition risk in the multivariate analysis.