Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en Relationship between Mini Nutritional Assessment Score and Infection in Critical Care Patients Infectious Disease Infectious Disease Original Research Original Research Background: Nutrition and infectious diseases are 2 influential factors. Mini nutritional assessment (MNA) score is one of the indicators for assessing the nutritional status of the patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between MNA– short form (SF) and the infectious status of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Hazrat-e-Rasoul hospital in Tehran.    Methods: This was a cross-sectional study performed at Hazrat-e-Rasoul hospital in Tehran from 2019 to 2020. Each patient completed the MNA–SF questionnaire. The questionnaire has 6 factors with a score range of 0 to 14, with 12 to 14 indicating "normal nutrition," 8 to 11 indicating "at risk of malnutrition," and 0 to 7 indicating "malnutrition." The patients were monitored for clinical and paraclinical signs and symptoms of infectious disease for the first 14 days after being admitted to the ICU. Then, the relationship between infection level and MNA–SF scores were recorded and the chi-square, independent samples t test, and Pearson correlation test were used.    Results: In this study, 119 patients (60 men and 59 women), with a mean age of 53.82 ± 19.76 years were selected, and 71 (59.67%) of the patients had an infection. Women without infection were significantly more than men (p=0.021). In the assessment of the MNA–SF questionnaire, we found that 62 (52.1%) patients had "normal nutrition" status, 30 (25.2%), and 27 (22.7%) had "at risk for malnutrition" and "malnutrition" status, respectively. MNA–SF scores were significantly different in different age groups (p=0.040). There was a significant relationship between weight loss, mobility, and neuropsychological problems with age (p<0.001). Also, there was a meaningful relationship between nutritional status and infection (p=0.032). The results determined that noninfected cases among the patients with "normal nutrition" status were more than those "at risk for malnutrition" (p=0.007). The results of this study showed that clinical outcomes had a significant relationship with nutritional status (p=0.043).    Conclusion: Based on the present study, good nutritional status can reduce infection and mortality in patients who are admitted to ICU, and the nutritional status assessed with MNA-SF can play an essential role in patients' susceptibility to infection. Mini Nutritional Assessment Score, Malnutrition, Infectious Diseases, Intensive Care Unit 693 698 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-7199-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Omid Moradi Moghaddam Moradimoghdam@yahoo.com 200319475328460072095 200319475328460072095 No Trauma and Injury Research Center, Critical Care Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Niakan Lahiji m.niakan48@gmail.com 200319475328460072096 200319475328460072096 No Trauma and Injury Research Center, Critical Care Department, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Leyla Yazdan Panah yazdanpanah_l@yahoo.com 200319475328460072097 200319475328460072097 No Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, Hazrat-e Rasoul Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mahshid Talebi-Taher mtalebitaher2000@yahoo.com 200319475328460072098 200319475328460072098 No Department of Infectious Disease, School of Medicine, Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Alireza Rajabi rajabi.ar@iums.ac.ir 200319475328460072099 200319475328460072099 Yes Critical Care Department, Hazrat-e Rasoul Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Seyedeh Farnaz Mirhosseini Mirhosseini.farnaz@gmail.com 200319475328460072100 200319475328460072100 No Clinical Nutrition Department, Hazrat-e Rasoul Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran