Abstract
Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between cognitive impairment (CI) and malnutrition in elderly patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and to determine the relationship between different nutritional indexes and cognitive impairment in patients with chronic heart failure.Methods and results: We examined the correlation between CI and nutritional indicators in elderly hospitalized patients with CHF. The nutritional status of patients was evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment(MNA), anthropometric assessment indicators, human component analysis indicators and laboratory tests indicators. Use of the Min-mental state examinatsion (MMSE) to evaluate cognitive function. The study included 184 heart failure patients aged 60 or older. According to the international common cognitive function assessment scale, the patients were divided into CI group and not CI group. In terms of nutrition, compared with those without CI, patients with CI had lower MNA score, Body mass index (BMI), arm circumference, calf circumference, fat free mass, upper arm muscle circumference, lymphocytes absolute value, hemoglobin, hematocrit, albumin, prealbumin, and cholesterol (P < 0.001). Among them, albumin (odds ratio [OR]=0.767, P < 0.05), arm circumference (odds ratio [OR]=0.614; P < 0.05), MNA score (odds ratio [OR]=0.675; P < 0.001) was significantly correlated with CI in elderly patients with CHF, and We found that the AUC was the largest when the three indexes were combined to draw the ROC curve (AUC: 0.935).Conclusions: Our findings emphasize that malnutrition is common in the elderly population, and that it is strongly associated with cognitive decline. Identifying and treating malnutrition is essential for all older people.