Loneliness and resilience are associated with nutrition risk after the first wave of COVID-19 in community-dwelling older Canadians

Abstract

Nutrition risk is linked to hospitalization, frailty, depression, and death. Loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic may have heightened nutrition risk. We sought to determine prevalence of high nutrition risk and if loneliness, mental health, and assistance with meal preparation/delivery were associated with risk in community-dwelling older adults (65+ years) after the first wave of COVID-19, in association analyses and when adjusting for meaningful covariates. Data were collected from May 12 to August 19, 2020. Descriptive statistics, association analyses, and linear regression analyses were conducted. For our total sample of 272 participants (78±7.3 years old, 70% female), the median SCREEN-8 score (nutrition risk) was 35 [1st Quartile, 3rd Quartile: 29, 40] and 64% were at high risk (SCREEN-8 < 38). Fifteen percent felt lonely two or more days a week. Loneliness and meal assistance were associated with high nutrition risk in association analyses. In multivariable analyses controlling for other lifestyle factors, loneliness was negatively associated with SCREEN-8 scores (-2.92, 95% CI [-5.51, -0.34]), as was smoking (-3.63, [-7.07, -0.19]). Higher SCREEN-8 scores were associated with higher education (2.71, [0.76, 4.66]), living with others (3.17, [1.35, 4.99]), higher self-reported health (0.11, [0.05, 0.16]), and resilience (1.28, [0.04, 2.52]). Loneliness was associated with nutrition risk in older adults after the first wave of COVID-19, but not mental health and meal assistance. Future research should consider longitudinal associations between loneliness, nutrition, and resilience.