Family MD Toolkit

Malnutrition Toolkit for Family MDs or Primary Care Providers

Malnutrition in adults and especially  older adults is a serious health issue that needs to be addressed. In Canada, it has been reported that 20-45% patients admitted to hospital are malnourished (Allard JP et al J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2016; Keller H et al Clin Nutr. 2021; Keller HH et al Clin Nutr. 2019). After being discharged from hospital, it has been found that one in four adult patients lose weight (Keller H et al Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017), and one in three adults aged >65 years living in the community are at risk for malnutrition (Ramage-Morin P, Statistics Canada, Health Reports, 2013). Nutrition interventions provided in a primary & community setting or post hospital discharge have a positive impact on intake (Munk T et al. Nutr Clin Pract. 2017), quality of life (Rasmussen NML et al. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2018), healthcare costs (Howatson A et al. J Prim Health Care. 2015) and even mortality (Deutz NE et al. Clinical Nutrition. 2016). Nutrition screening  in a family practice setting can help you support your clients with evidence based interventions and prevent malnutrition (Hamirudin AH et al. BMC Fam Pract. 2014).

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