Cátia Martins

Undernutrition Risk Screening and Length of Stay of Hospitalized Elderly

Abstract The purpose was to compare, in elderly hospitalized patients, the performance of widely used nutritional screening and assessment tools and anthropometric parameters with the Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS-2002); and to evaluate their independent association with length of hospital stay. Nutritional-status screening and assessment was carried out using NRS-2002, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST), and anthropometry. Patients classified by NRS-2002 as undernourished had an independent higher risk of longer length-of-stay (> 8 days): Odds ratio = 2.25 (95% Confidence Interval = 1.03 to 4.88). Nutritional “risk” by NRS-2002 is an independent risk factor for a long length of stay in elderly hospitalized patients, an important outcome predictor in this population.

Nutritional Strategies Facing an Older Demographic: The Nutrition UP 65 Study Protocol

Background The population of Portugal is aging. The lack of data on older adults’ nutritional status and the lack of nutrition knowledge amongst health professionals, caregivers, and older adults themselves, remains a challenge. Objective The Nutrition UP 65 study aims to reduce nutritional inequalities in the older Portuguese adult population and improve knowledge regarding older Portuguese adults’ nutritional status, specifically relating to undernutrition, obesity, sarcopenia, frailty, hydration, sodium, and vitamin D statuses. Methods A representative sample of older Portuguese adults was selected. Sociodemographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, functional, and clinical data were collected. Sodium excretion, hydration, and vitamin D statuses were assessed. Results Data collection (n=1500) took place between December, 2015 and June, 2016. Results will be disseminated in national and international scientific journals, and via Portuguese media. Conclusions Nutrition UP 65 results will provide evidence for the design and implementation of effective preventive public health strategies regarding the elderly. These insights may represent relevant health gains and costs savings.

Internal validation of two new retrotransposons-based kits (InnoQuant® HY and InnoTyper® 21) at a forensic lab

Obtaining a genetic profile from pieces of evidence collected at a crime scene is the primary objective of forensic laboratories. New procedures, methods, kits, software or equipment must be carefully evaluated and validated before its implementation. The constant development of new methodologies for DNA testing leads to a steady process of validation, which consists of demonstrating that the technology is robust, reproducible, and reliable throughout a defined range of conditions. The present work aims to internally validate two new retrotransposon-based kits (InnoQuant® HY and InnoTyper® 21), under the working conditions of the Laboratório de Polícia Científica da Polícia Judiciária (LPC-PJ). For the internal validation of InnoQuant® HY and InnoTyper® 21 sensitivity, repeatability, reproducibility, and mixture tests and a concordance study between these new kits and those currently in use at LPC-PJ (Quantifiler® Duo and GlobalFiler™) were performed. The results obtained for sensitivity, repeatability, and reproducibility tests demonstrated that both InnoQuant® HY and InnoTyper® 21 are robust, reproducible, and reliable. The results of the concordance studies demonstrate that InnoQuant® HY produced quantification results in nearly 29% more than Quantifiler® Duo (indicating that this new kit is more effective in challenging samples), while the differences observed between InnoTyper® 21 and GlobalFiler™ are not significant. Therefore, the utility of InnoTyper® 21 has been proven, especially by the successful amplification of a greater number of complete genetic profiles (27 vs. 21). The results herein presented allowed the internal validation of both InnoQuant® HY and InnoTyper® 21, and their implementation in the LPC-PJ laboratory routine for the treatment of challenging samples.