Malnutrition risk in older adults. Free with attribution.
MNA-SF (Mini Nutritional Assessment — Short Form) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess malnutrition risk in older adults. The instrument contains 6 items.
Source / attribution: Rubenstein LZ et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001;56(6):M366-M372. © Société des Produits Nestlé. Free for clinical use with attribution.
The instrument's primary construct — malnutrition risk in older adults — is operationalized through a fixed set of items, each with a defined response format. This standardisation is what allows MNA-SF scores to be compared meaningfully across clinicians, sites, and studies.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, MNA-SF is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 6 items below to see your MNA-SF score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 3-point scale (0–2). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
MNA-SF uses simple summation: each item's selected response is converted to a numeric value, and the values are added to produce a total score. Reverse-scored items are inverted before summation.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–7 | Malnourished | Refer to dietitian; consider nutritional support. |
| 8–11 | At risk of malnutrition | Initiate nutritional intervention; consider full MNA. |
| 12–14 | Normal nutritional status | No intervention needed; rescreen periodically. |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Has food intake declined in the past 3 months due to loss of appetite, digestive problems, or chewing/swallowing difficulties? | No decrease | 2 |
| 2 | Weight loss in the past 3 months | 1 – 3 kg | 2 |
| 3 | Mobility | Able to get out of bed but does not go out | 1 |
| 4 | Has suffered psychological stress or acute disease in past 3 months? | No | 2 |
| 5 | Neuropsychological problems | Mild dementia | 1 |
| 6 | BMI (kg/m²) — or calf circumference if BMI unavailable | BMI 21 – 23 | 2 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 10
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 10 falls between 8 and 11 → At risk of malnutrition
At risk of malnutrition. Initiate nutritional intervention; consider full MNA.
A score is one input alongside history and examination. MNA-SF supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
If MNA-SF doesn't fit your context, related instruments in nutrition include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| MUST | Screen for adult malnutrition risk | 3 | — |
| Barthel Index | Functional independence in ADLs | 10 | — |
| GDS-15 | Depression screening in older adults | 15 | — |
| Katz ADL | Functional independence in basic ADLs | 6 | — |
| MoCA | Cognitive screening | — | ≈ 10 minutes |
| Lawton IADL | Functional independence in instrumental ADLs | 8 | — |
| Timed Up and Go | Mobility and fall risk in older adults | 1 | — |
| FINDRISC | 10-year risk of developing type 2 diabetes | 8 | — |
MNA-SF (Mini Nutritional Assessment — Short Form) is a validated instrument that assesses malnutrition risk in older adults. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. The 6 items are summed to produce a total score.
MNA-SF contains 6 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 14, grouped into 3 interpretation bands from ‘Malnourished’ up to ‘Normal nutritional status’.
On the MNA-SF (total score 0–14), scores of 12–14 fall in the ‘Normal nutritional status’ band — interpreted as: No intervention needed; rescreen periodically. The full ladder is: 0–7 — Malnourished: Refer to dietitian; consider nutritional support.; 8–11 — At risk of malnutrition: Initiate nutritional intervention; consider full MNA.; 12–14 — Normal nutritional status: No intervention needed; rescreen periodically. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–7 fall in the ‘Malnourished’ band: Refer to dietitian; consider nutritional support. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
MNA-SF is free to use with attribution — clinical, educational, and research use is permitted provided the original source is credited. If you publish results or reproduce the scale, include the citation to the source paper.
Rubenstein LZ et al. Screening for undernutrition in geriatric practice — MNA-SF. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001;56(6):M366-M372. This is the original publication for the MNA-SF — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. MNA-SF is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of malnutrition risk in older adults — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
MNA-SF is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: