Malnutrition in Aged Care Homes Could Be Monitored With New App

The new tool could help address a serious problem in Australian nursing homes.

Elderly woman in aged care facility. Pixel-Shot/Adobe Stock

Monash and Griffith University researchers have developed a new automated tool to screen malnutrition in aged care patients.

Known as “AutoMal,” the technology can diagnose nutrition by measuring body mass index (BMI) and weight change over six months.

“It calculates the predicted probability of malnutrition using a formula from which a threshold value is applied as either malnourished or not-malnourished,” the researchers said.

Malnutrition is a serious problem in Australian nursing homes, causing multiple problems, including frailty, a weakened immune system, bone health problems, and cognitive decline.

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, researchers concluded that AutoMal demonstrates an “excellent ability” to differentiate malnutrition status.

School of Health Sciences and Social Work senior lecturer Marie-Claire O'Shea worked with colleagues at Monash University to develop the screening technology.

“Malnutrition is a state resulting from inadequate intake or uptake of nutrition that leads to loss of fat stores or muscle mass, leading to diminished physical and mental function,” O'Shea said.

“It’s a serious problem affecting Australian aged care facilities with an estimated 40–60 percent of residents diagnosed as being malnourished, so the time is now to address this national problem.”

O'Shea said AutoMal had been designed specifically for aged care homes with planned testing to expand to in-home care settings.

She noted that currently available screening tools rely on training and can take substantial time, especially when requiring data collection from residents or staff.

“Malnutrition screening tools are only useful if they are used. We’ve designed AutoMal to be as intuitive as possible, requiring substantially fewer resources than existing screening methods.

She explained that automated malnutrition screening would enable data to be reported regularly, increase accountability, and promote quick nutritional intervention.

“AutoMal has the potential for widespread implementation and may substantially enhance efforts for identifying malnutrition, a critical step in malnutrition treatment and maintaining the well-being of long-term care residents,” she said.

Implementing AutoMal would require fewer resources than existing screening methods because it only requires two  regular data points, the research paper explained. This means it can be easily automated within electronic health systems.

The paper’s authors included lead Jonathan Foo, Melanie Roberts, Lauren Williams, Christian Osadnik, and Judy Bauer.

Huge Number of Malnourished Residents in Aged Care

Meanwhile, a large-scale aged care nutritional study in July 2024 showed that 40 percent of Australians in this environment were malnourished.

The research, published in the journal Healthcare, examined facilities in New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland.

It found that many elderly residents were not identified as malnourished due to a lack of nutritional detection methods.

Monash University noted the increasing number of people who will enter aged care. By 2050, the number of people over 60 will double, and those over 80 will triple.

In addition, it pointed to figures showing that malnutrition costs the federal government about $9 billion (US$6 billion) per year.

Monash University lead author Dr. Jonathan Foo said good nutrition played a “crucial role” in healthy ageing.

“Malnutrition is associated with poorer overall health, increased hospitalisation rates, higher rates of falls and fractures, slower wound healing, higher infection risk, and accelerated mortality,” he said.

“Despite such risks, aged care providers are not suitably resourced to perform routine screening using validated tools meaning many malnourished residents are likely to be undetected and therefore untreated.”

Up to 50 Percent Hospitalised

Meanwhile, another paper published in the journal Nutrients in July highlighted up to 50 percent of elderly patients were hospitalised due to malnutrition worldwide.

The authors noted that the development of precise noninvasive biomarkers was crucial, given the lack of diagnostic methods available to detect malnutrition at the time of the study.

The paper explained that malnutrition adversely affects the quality of life of the elderly and costs the health system money.

“A cooperative effort from researchers, GP practitioners, and policymakers is crucial to prioritising the design and generation of standardised protocols and multidisciplinary interventions,” the paper concluded.

“By advancing our understanding, we can benefit from our work to effectively support the nutritional health and overall well-being of the older population.”