Diagnostic Accuracy of Handgrip Strength as a Screening Tool of Nutritional Status in Community-Living Elderly

Using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) to assess nutritional status in elderly may spend longer time and not quite simple when used in community setting. Moreover, it should be performed by healthcare professional. A simpler and easier tool such as handgrip strength (HS) seem appropriate to be used in this setting. However, there is no published article which investigate the performance of this method to assess elderly nutritional status. This study aimed to verify the cut-off point and assess this method’s performance to detect malnutrition among community-living elderly. A crossectional study was conducted at Posbindu in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, January–February 2017. Subjects were men and women ≥60 years old. Cutoff point malnutrition was investigated by the ROC curve. Diagnostic accuracy of HS was calculated. The area under the curve (AUC) value of the HS in elderly men and women were 90.5% (95% CI 82.0–99.0) and 79.6% (95% CI 71.7–87.6). Cutoff point of HS for the diagnosis of malnutrition according to the reference standard were ≤25 kg for men and ≤18 kg for women, with the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV were 87.5% and 77.8%, 80.0% and 65.0%, 66.7% and 55.6%, 93.3% and 83.9%, 4,4 and 2,2, 0,1 and 0,3 for men and women, respectively. Cutoff point of HS for diagnosis of malnutrition were ≤25 kg for men and ≤18 kg for women. Diagnostic accuracy of HS for diagnosis malnutrition in elderly men and women were good and moderate.