BMC cardiovascular disordersSep 30, 2025

Link between older adults' nutrition risk and chance of heart failure

Brain-Computer Interfaces Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Jan 14, 2026

Abstract

Higher scores are associated with a lower risk of heart failure in participants aged 60 and older.

Participants with higher GNRI quartiles exhibited progressively lower odds of heart failure compared to those in the lowest quartile.
The study indicates a linear inverse relationship between GNRI and heart failure risk.
Better nutritional status, reflected by higher GNRI scores, could be linked to a reduced likelihood of developing heart failure.
Lower GNRI scores may be prevalent among those with heart failure in the elderly population.
Further longitudinal studies are necessary to explore the causality of nutritional status on heart failure outcomes.

Simplified

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the correlation between and the occurrence of heart failure (HF) using data from the NHANES database.

METHODS: Data were derived from the NHANES study, a large-scale, nationwide epidemiological survey. The final sample consisted of 16,021 participants aged 60 and older after excluding those with missing GNRI data and those without HF. GNRI was calculated using serum albumin levels and body weight, and participants were categorized into quartiles based on their GNRI scores. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between GNRI and HF risk, adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. Restricted cubic splines were used to visualize the relationship between GNRI and HF.

RESULTS: The analysis revealed that higher GNRI scores were associated with a lower risk of heart failure. Logistic regression showed that, after adjusting for confounders, higher GNRI quartiles had progressively lower odds of HF compared to the lowest quartile. The restricted cubic spline analysis confirmed a linear inverse relationship between GNRI and HF risk, indicating that better nutritional status, as indicated by higher GNRI, is linked to a reduced likelihood of heart failure.

CONCLUSION: Lower GNRI scores are associated with a higher prevalence of heart failure, highlighting the potential role of nutritional risk assessment in elderly populations. Further longitudinal studies are necessary to establish causality and explore the impact of nutritional improvements on heart failure outcomes.

Key numbers

0.36

Odds Ratio for Heart Failure (Q4 vs. Q1)

Odds ratio from fully adjusted model comparing highest to lowest quartile.

16,021

Sample Size

Total number of participants aged 60 and older included in the study.

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license.

View Full Text ↗

Link between older adults' nutrition risk and chance of heart failure

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week: