Nutritional Assessment of Older Female Inpatients With Hip Fracture Using Phase Angle

The applicability of the phase angle in assessing nutritional status among older women remains unexamined. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the phase angle for nutritional assessment in older women with hip fractures and determine the cutoff value for malnutrition and the minimal detectable change (MDC). In this study, a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal design was employed. A total of 138 older female inpatients with hip fractures admitted to one of three rehabilitation units were included. At admission, nutritional status was assessed using the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, and the phase angle was calculated by bioelectrical impedance analysis. At one of the rehabilitation units, the phase angle was also measured 1 month after admission. Data from 90 participants (mean age: 83.11 ± 6.79 years) were analyzed. The cutoff phase angle for identifying malnutrition was 3.975° (sensitivity: 0.882 and specificity: 0.740). The MDC was 0.768°. The phase angle may be useful as a screening tool for nutritional assessment in older women with hip fractures.