Usefulness of the mini nutritional assessment short-form for evaluating nutritional status in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Although the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) is recognized as a useful tool for evaluating nutritional status in patients with various diseases, its applicability in patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) remains undetermined.

Methods: We designed a prospective cross-sectional study to investigate whether the MNA Short-Form (MNA-SF) score can serve as a screening tool to assess the nutritional status of patients with NTM-PD. The MNA-SF was conducted upon patient enrollment, and correlation analyses were performed to compare MNA-SF scores with other nutritional measurements and disease severity. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between MNA-SF scores and NTM-PD severity.

Results: The 194 patients with NTM-PD included in the analysis had a median age of 65.0 (59.0-69.0) years; 59.3% (n = 115) had low MNA-SF scores (< 12). The low MNA-SF group exhibited a lower body mass index (19.7 vs. 22.4 kg/m, p < 0.001) and fat-free mass index (14.7 vs. 15.6 kg/m, p < 0.001) than the normal MNA-SF group, as well as higher incidences of sarcopenia (20.0% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.008) and adipopenia (35.7% vs. 5.1%, p < 0.001). However, no significant differences in calorie and protein intakes were observed between the two groups. Low MNA-SF scores were associated with radiographic severity (adjusted odds ratio 2.72, 95% confidence interval 1.38-5.36) but not with forced vital capacity.

Conclusions: The MNA-SF can effectively assess the nutritional status of patients with NTM-PD and can serve as an important clinical indicator in NTM-PD where treatment timing is determined by clinical judgment.