# Interest of body composition assessment in the accuracy of the diagnosis of undernutrition in the older population in Senegal: A cross-sectional and prospective study

## TL;DR

This study in Senegal shows that combining body composition assessment with standard tools improves the accuracy of diagnosing undernutrition in older adults.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates the added value of body composition assessment using BIA in diagnosing undernutrition in elderly populations.

## Key findings

- Undernutrition affected 46.6% of elderly participants based on MNA and/or BMI.
- Lean mass index was significantly lower in malnourished individuals.
- Combining MNA, BMI, and lean mass index via BIA improves early detection of malnutrition.

## Abstract

In the absence of consensus on the diagnostic criteria for undernutrition in the elderly, there is a significant number of missing cases of disease in this target, particularly in areas with limited resources, including Senegal. We wanted to contribute to a better diagnostic approach to undernutrition in the elderly, by determining the relevance of body composition assessment using BIA.

Cross-sectional and prospective study.

Individuals aged ≥ 60 years old, attending outpatient consultations at Fann University Hospital and the Retirement Provident health Center (IPRES), who were able to stand for 3 min without technical and/or human assistance were included.

We used the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine the prevalence of undernutrition and a Tanita BC 601® brand body composition monitor to assess body composition. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 29.0.

We included 73 individuals with a mean age of 72.48 ± 7.23 years old, predominantly male, with a sex ratio of 1.43. Undernutrition, the main geriatric syndrome, affected 46.6 % of the study subjects according to the MNA and/or BMI, including two- thirds in men. The mean lean mass index was 16.07 ± 3.03 kg/m² in men and 15.53 ± 2.51 kg/m² in women. It was significantly lower in cases of malnutrition, with an average of 14.38 ± 2.82 kg/m² among malnourished elderly individuals.

Malnutrition in the elderly is best assessed early by a combination of diagnostic tools including MNA, BMI and lean mass index assessed by BIA.