HARRIS-BENEDICT EQUATIONS DO NOT ADEQUATELY PREDICT ENERGY
INTRODUCTION
The ill elderly often present with elevated nutritional risk and a history of weight loss. Elderly patients who lose weight during hospital admissions have an eight-fold greater in-hospital and nearly three-fold greater 90-day mortality, when compared to patients without significant weight loss.
To predict energy needs in the elderly, many clinicians use regression equations that were derived from measurement of heat production in a metabolic chamber, using a relatively young, healthy, entirely Caucasian population. Age has been identified as a key variable in resting energy expenditure, due to the loss of metabolically active tissue in favor of fat mass during the aging process. Energy expenditure measurements in the elderly, however, are limited and racial composition of the patient group not specified. Ill patients, with energy expenditure measured during hospitalization, often have energy needs that are greater than expected based on their body composition. Younger, healthy but overweight African-American women have significantly lower energy expenditure and disappointing response to weight reduction efforts than their Caucasian counterparts. Thus, predictions from a young, healthy Caucasian population may not be appropriate for the oldest elderly, ill, or hospitalized African-American patients. canada pharmacy mall
We hypothesized that Harris-Benedict equations would be unreliable for elderly, hospitalized African-American patients. We also hypothesized that energy requirements might be elevated in elderly African-American patients during hospitalization, a factor that could provide a periodic stimulus for loss of body weight. Thus, the current observational cohort study was undertaken to evaluate actual measured energy requirements in elderly, hospitalized African-American patients.
