The purpose of this study was to examine evidence and determine if there was a significant relationship between prealbumin and patient age, gender, length of hospitalization, and admitting diagnosis. All patients over the age of 65 years who were admitted to the hospital from February 15 through March 15, 2003 made up the population of this study. The sample size was 119 patients and the population was 155 patients. A data sheet was designed to obtain the following information from the patient database: length of hospital stay, prealbumin level upon discharge and throughout hospitalization, gender, age, and admitting diagnosis. Dependent variables in this study included length of stay and patient prealbumin level. Independent variables were patient age, gender, admitting diagnosis and prealbumin level. No significant difference in length of hospitalization and prealbumin levels was found. Prealbumin level was not significantly different among patients in any of the five age categories. Male and female average prealbumin levels did not differ significantly. There was no significant change in prealbumin levels among the various admitting diagnosis groups or in the length of hospital stay among any of the five age categories.
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