Do we care about appetite?—an investigation into the recording of reduced appetite in older hospitalised adults

Reduced appetite is a common issue among older adults. However, its formal assessment is rarely undertaken in clinical practice. The aim of the study was to check the frequency of reporting of appetite status in hospitalized older adults and to analyze the terms documented by physicians when reporting reduced appetite.

A retrospective analysis of electronic medical records of hospitalized patients aged 65 and older was conducted. To determine patients’ appetite status structured appetite assessment or any references related to appetite were considered.

We included 1291 individual patients’ medical records, of which 13.3% contained any reference to appetite. We showed that in our setting, appetite was not assessed according to standardized questionnaires. In addition, appetite status was documented with inconsistent terminology.

Appetite status was rarely noted in electronic medical records. The lack of a structured assessment of reduced appetite in older patients was found.