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Background: Malnutrition is a global health problem especially in extremes of age. Elderly people are a fast-growing group that is at greater risk of malnutrition due to high prevalence of comorbidities and limited resources available for them. Elderly are more prone to negative effects of malnutrition on quality of life and health outcomes due to their vulnerable nature and this is often preventable. Aim: To assess the effect of nutritional status on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among community-dwelling elderly living i n a rural village in Dakahliya, Egypt. .Methods: A cross-sectional study. A random sample of 170 community-dwelling elderly living in Dakahliya. Demographic data were collected, and comprehensive geriatric assessment was done for each participant includin g history taking, clinical examination, psychological, mental and functional assessment. Assessment of nutritional status was done using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. HRQoL was measured using the Short-Form Health Survey-36 items (SF-36) questionnaire. Results: The present study showed that among the 170 participants; 45(26.5%) of them were malnourished, 69 (40.6%) were at risk of malnutrition and 56 (32.9%) were well nourished, and showed that HRQoL wa s significantly poorer in malnourished elderly (P ˂0.001). Conclusions: The high prevalence of malnutrition highlights the importance of regular screening of elderly at community settings. As improvement in HRQoL is a growing goal for the worldwide health care and the strong effect of nutritional status on HRQoL, nutritional screening and intervention are extremely important especially for elderly.

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Background: The ongoing scientific debate regarding the association between physical function and cognitive impairment has focused mainly on global cognitive performance rather than specific cognitive functions tests and the importance of recognition of its associations and any factors that could play a role later in the prevention of such decline. Objective: This study examined the association between physical function, using handgrip strength (HGS) and Timed Up-and-Go test (TUGT), and executive function (EF), using Clock Drawing Test (CDT), among community-dwelling Egyptian elderly. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 social clubs in Cairo, Egypt and included a sample of 136 elderly males and females aged≥55 years old. All participants had their physical function assessed using TUGT, and measurement of HGS using a pneumatic hand-held dynamometer. Assessment of EF using CDT was also done. Results: Higher CDT scores were significantly associated with both better HGS, and lower TUGT (OR = 3.77, and 0.65 respectively). This persisted even after adjustment for age and gender (OR = 2.56, and 0.71 respectively) and after further adjustment for weight, systolic blood pressure, education, smoking, hyperlipidemia, hypothyroidism, and physical activity (O.R. = 4.79, and 0.76 respectively). Adjustment for both male and female genders showed an association between physical (HGS and TUGT) and EF was stronger among men. Conclusion: A strong association between CDT score and both of HGS and TUGT was found among the studied sample. Higher HGS and lower TUGT was significantly associated with better performance in the CDT. This association is stronger in males than in females for both HGS and TUGT.

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