Rationale: Older adults are at an increased risk of malnutrition compared to the younger population presenting new challenges for healthcare systems. The prevalence of malnutrition in elderly Europeans is an increasing health issue and furthermore it is difficult to clarify the precise determinants that cause it. The Joint Programme Initiative ‘Malnutrition in the Elderly’ (MaNuEL) Knowledge hub was created with the objective of determining factors associated with malnutrition to develop effective interventions to prevent malnutrition in the elderly in heterogenous healthcare settings. The aim of the current research was to investigate the determinants associated with developing malnutrition in older Irish adults using the ELDERMET cohort data.
Methods:  Data from the ELDERMET cohort of free living and long-term care older adults was used to determine factors associated with malnutrition, measured at baseline, three and six-month follow-up. Statistically analysis was conducted using SPSS Version 22.0 (IBM Corporation).
Results: Out of a total of 446 participants, baseline analysis identified 78 (17.5%) participants to be malnourished.  Logistic regression analysis found age (adjusted OR = 1.10, 95% CI (1.05, 1.15)) and long-term care (adjusted OR = 6.35, 95% CI (3.24, 12.45)) to be significantly associated with malnutrition. Unadjusted logistic regression analysis identified age, physical function determined by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score, cognitive function determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), nutritional status as determined by the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and setting (community versus long-term care) as factors significantly association with incidence malnutrition (p<0.05). Long-term care was found to be associated with incident weight loss using logistic regression analysis (adjusted OR = 5.35, 95% CI (2.19, 13.04)), controlling for age, sex and BMI at baseline. 
Conclusion: There are many potential determinants of malnutrition in older adults. Age and long-term care were significantly associated with malnutrition in the ELDERMET cohort. This study demonstrates the risk of malnutrition in older adults, particularly those in long-term care. Future research is needed to help develop appropriate guidelines for nutrition policy in older adults to improve detection and prevention of malnutrition.

03. Factors associated with malnutrition in long-term care versus community dwelling older Irish adults