Background Malnutritiona condition that occurs when nutritional needs are not met by food intakes, often associated with underlying diseases. It can cause a decrease in appetite, which is a common symptom in populations suffering malnutrition. Hypoalbuminemia is closely related to a decrease in appetite and often use as a marker to define malnutrition. ElevatedC-reactive protein (CRP) level is associated with inflammation, which can cause a decrease in appetite and end up with malnutrition. Inflammation process increasing by age called inflammagingwhich physiological functions of most systems are decreased.The aim of this study was to find a correlation between albumin serum and CRP serum in elderly (≥60 years) post-hospitalized patients at the Moh.Hoesin General Hospital.

Method Cross-sectional study to investigate post-hospitalized elderly patients with hypoalbuminemia. Patients with stories of hepatic, renal and chronic diarrhea were excluded from the study. Albumin and CRP were analyzed from blood samples taken at the day of patient discharge along with other routine laboratory markers.

Result All together 41 patients were eligible for analysis for the study. The mean age of the sample were 71.4 ± 6.3, with the youngest was 61 years old and the oldest was 85 years. There were 21 male (51.2%) and 20 female (48.8%)sampel. Most of the sample(63.4%) werenormoweight with the rest were underweight (36,6%).About 53,7% of the patients were diabetics and most of them (80 %) showed high blood pressure. Albumin levels were ranged from 2,44-3,33 mg/dL with median 2,9 mg/dL, while the median of CRP was 45 mg/dL ranging from 2,8 to 144,2 mg/Dl. There was a significant negative correlation between CRP and albumin levels (r= -0.323; p=0.034).

Conclusion There was a negativecorrelation between CRP and albumin in the post-hospitalized malnourished elderly patients at the Moh.Hoesin General Hospital Palembang.