Abstract
Background
There is a risk of malnutrition when older people are diagnosed with cancer, highlighting
the need for nutritional assessments and appropriate management to be undertaken by
healthcare professionals including nurses. The absence of a standardised assessment
method and management of nutrition in older people creates a gap in clinical practice
and warrants further research.
Aim
The aim of this review was to explore the current nutritional assessment methods and
evidence-based interventions for improving nutritional outcomes in older people with
cancer.
Methods
An integrative literature review was conducted using electronic databases. Papers
were limited to those published in English between 2009 and 2021. Search terms included older
adult, elder, geriatric, senior, cancer, nutrition, malnutrition, hospital, and inpatient
across four databases: Embase, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and Scopus. Using the inclusion and
exclusion criteria, 303 articles were screened. A Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT)
(2018) was used for quality appraisal. Concept analysis explored themes across the
included articles.
Findings
The themes from the analysis of 10 primary research articles, which included 5,327
participants, were (i) types of nutritional assessment and (ii) management of older
people with cancer. The main nutritional assessment scales used were the Mini Nutrition
Assessment and Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment.
Conclusion
The completion of a comprehensive nutritional assessment by health professionals,
including nurses, could facilitate early dietary intervention in older persons with
cancer. This would enable supportive dietary advice and supplementation to improve
health outcomes.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 12, 2022
Accepted:
June 29,
2022
Received in revised form:
June 15,
2022
Received:
April 14,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Australian College of Nursing Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
