Abstract Background Malnutrition in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) is common owing to disease-related factors such as poor nutrient absorption, reduced food intake, increased energy needs, and nutrient loss through diarrhea or bleeding. Older-adult patients are at increased risk of malnutrition due to effects of aging and comorbidities. Early detection and treatment of malnutrition in older-adults can decrease the risk of complications and morbidity in this population. Our aim was to evaluate factors associated with risk of malnutrition in older adults with CD. Methods Data on all consecutive patients with CD aged ≥75 years were collected retrospectively from physicians’ and dietitians’ visits between august 2018 and July 2025. Risk of malnutrition was calculated from data provided during clinic visits, according to the simplified Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF; ≥12-not at risk, 12-at risk for malnutrition), comprised of change in weight and food intake, patient mobility, neurologic impairment, acute illness and body mass index (BMI). Patients with insufficient data for nutritional assessment were excluded. Patient’s and disease characteristics were compared and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for malnutrition risk according to MNA-SF were determined for factors with significant difference between the groups using a multivariable logistic regression. Results A total of 162 older-adult patients were screened and 147 (90.7%) included (63 males 42.9%, median age 79.9 years IQR 77.5, 84.8). According to MNA-SF, 71 patients (48.3%) were at risk for malnutrition. Overall, 14.1% of patients at risk of malnutrition visited a specialized inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) dietitian in the IBD clinic within 3-month of physicians’ assessment, similar to patients not at risk (7.9%, p = 0.292). Increased risk of malnutrition was associated with prior gastrointestinal resection (aOR=2.320; 95%CI: 1.026-5.246, p = 0.043), active smoking (aOR=4.642; 95%CI: 1.026-5.246, p = 0.008), and clinically active disease (aOR=2.883; 95%CI: 1.358-6.121, p = 0.006). Conclusion Older-adult patients with CD are at high risk of malnutrition, however, rates of specialized IBD dietician assessment were low in this population. Vigilance to factors associated with malnutrition and the routine use of simplified nutritional screening tools may assist in early identification of patients at risk and their prompt referral to specialized IBD dietitian. Conflict of interest: Bromberg, Ahuva: No conflict of interest Javits, Lihi: No conflict of interest Leibovitzh, Haim: No conflict of interest Hirsch, Ayal: No conflict of interest Ron, Yulia: No conflict of interest Cohen, Nathaniel Aviv: No conflict of interest Deutsch, Liat: No conflict of interest Shilton, Shahar: No conflict of interest Simanovich, Meitar: No conflict of interest Baruch, Roni: No conflict of interest Anbar, Ronit: No conflict of interest Maharshak, Nitsan: No conflict of interest Thurm, Tamar: No conflict of interest
Bromberg et al. (Thu,) studied this question.