Factors associated with the nutritional status of the older population in a selected area of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background Globally, older population (aged ≥60 years) comprise 11% of the total population, and 23% of them are malnourished. Lack of knowledge and education, adverse dietary habits, depression or psychological disorders, poor oral and dental health, disability, and diseases are the reported factors responsible for malnutrition among them. Geriatric people comprise 7.5% of the total population of Bangladesh, and almost a quarter are malnourished. But there is scarce data on the factors associated with the nutritional status of the older population in Bangladesh. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 125 older individuals (male 59, female 66) living in three villages of Uttarkhan, Dhaka, Bangladesh, to identify the factors associated with their nutritional status. The Mini Nutritional Assessment scale, Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form, and Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index were used for assessing the nutritional status, mental health status, and oral health quality of the respondents, respectively. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, comorbidities and dietary factors, and food behaviors were gathered by a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Results The participants’ mean age was 67.9 ± 7.1 years. Most of them (53.6%) had no formal education. Among the respondents, 22.0% male and 28.8% female were malnourished. The proportion of malnourished and at risk of malnutrition among the respondents living without a partner were 28.6 and 65.3%, respectively. A significantly (p < 0.05) higher odds of having depression (OR 15.6; 95% CI 3.1–78.1), poor oral health (OR 7.3; 95% CI 1.3–41.8), and no formal education (OR 6.5; 95% CI 1.3–32.1) was observed among the malnourished respondents. Though it was not statistically significant, among the malnourished, 31.3, 25.0 and 25.0% avoided highly oily food, beef/mutton, and sugary food, respectively. Conclusions More than two-thirds of the older population were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, where the female respondents were more vulnerable. Depression, inadequate oral health, and lack of education were negatively associated with the nutritional status of the older population.

Dietary intake pattern among elderly people in the urban Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

“…Education level is found to be highly associated with dietary intake patterns. A previous study conducted in Dhaka about elderly people shows that elderly people with low education levels tended to be more malnourished than educated ones which is concurrent with our study (Rahman et al, 2021) [14] . A study conducted in Colombia also shows a similar result (Lahiri et al, 2015) [8] .…”

“…The occurrence of multimorbidity is found to be associated with increasing age and is very common in developing countries (Lahiri et al, 2015) [8] . Globally, 11% of the total population is older people (age above 65 years) and 23% of them are malnourished (Rahman et al, 2021) [14] . Being a developing country, Bangladesh is one of the worst suffers from malnutrition of older people and about 50% of the older adult are malnourished (Rahman et al, 2021) [14] .…”

“…Globally, 11% of the total population is older people (age above 65 years) and 23% of them are malnourished (Rahman et al, 2021) [14] . Being a developing country, Bangladesh is one of the worst suffers from malnutrition of older people and about 50% of the older adult are malnourished (Rahman et al, 2021) [14] . As dietary intake of food is closely associated with the wellbeing of elderly people, the study aims to assess the pattern of dietary intake among elderly people in urban areas of Cox's Bazar district.…”

The impact of COVID-19 on health of the older persons in Bangladesh

“…Older women have a higher prevalence of diseases compared to men (DPS, 2019). The major problems are identified as lack of health literacy, lack of health services and social support, and lack of healthcare-seeking behaviors (Rahman et al, 2021a(Rahman et al, , 2021b(Rahman et al, , 2021c. Here older people are heavily dependent on their family members for seeking healthcare-related services.…”

“…In Bangladesh the presence of higher malnourishment and diverse disability among older people is also prominent (Alam et al, 2021;Rahman et al, 2021aRahman et al, , 2021bRahman et al, , 2021c. Regarding the mental health of older persons, the country has been reported as having a very high prevalence of geriatric depressive symptoms (Rahman et al, 2020a(Rahman et al, , 2020b(Rahman et al, , 2020c, which is often connected to the malnourishment and other health-related problems of older persons (Rahman et al, 2021a(Rahman et al, , 2021b(Rahman et al, , 2021c. Though the concern is serious, geriatric mental health is given one of the lowest priorities (Alam et al, 2021).…”