Define Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) Tool?

It is a comprehensive and simple tool, which is able to categorize the subjects into three different categories like well nourished, at risk and undernourished. In most of the cases this tool eliminates the need for more invasive test such as blood sampling.

The MNA was developed and validated jointly by the Center for Internal Medicine and Clinical Gerontology of Toulouse (France), the Clinical Nutrition Programme at the University of New Mexico (United States), and the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne (Switzerland). The objective of this tool was to screen and assess the nutrition status as part of the standard evaluation of elderly patients in clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, or among those who are otherwise frail. The MNA is easy to administer, patient friendly, inexpensive, very sensitive (96%), highly specific (98%), and reproducible. The MNA comprises 18 items grouped in four sections :(l) anthropometric assessment  (weight, height, arm and calf circumferences, and weight loss); (2) general assessment  (six questions related to lifestyle, medication, and mobility); (3) dietary assessment  (eight questions related to number of meals, food and fluid intake, and autonomy of  feeding); and (4) subjective assessment (self-perception of health and nutrition).

The response to each item in the MNA had a numerical score. The total MNA score is calculated as the sum of the points assigned to the responses of the 18 items. The maximum value of the final score is 30. According to the obtained score using the questionnaire the MNA stratifies patients in: well nourished (24 = MNA < 30), at risk of under nutrition (17 = MNA = 23), and undernourished (MNA 47). The MNA is specifically designed to guide nutritional intervention by identifying the risk factors requiring correction. In fact, it is both a screening and assessment tool for the identification of malnutrition in the elderly.