Prevalence of malnutrition and its determinants in an elderly people in South India

Abstract

Background: The population of elderly people aged ≥60 years is increasing worldwide and is projected to reach 1.5 billion by 2050. In India, the elderly people constitute 8.1% of the total population. Malnutrition is highly prevalent in the elderly population due to various diseases and impairments.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 209 elderly people from February 2018 to April 2018. A questionnaire was used to collect data related to socio-demographic characteristics, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and regarding medication use, comorbidity, use of a walking aid, smoking and alcohol consumption. The MNA tool was used for the assessment of nutrition status. For an assessment of functional status, the activities of daily living scale and instrumental activities of daily living scale were used. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square test were used to present the data.Results: The average MNA score was 23.5 (SD=4.3, range: 7-30) and that of BMI was 23.8 (SD=3.9, range: 15.6-38.9). Of 209 study participants, 9.1% were malnourished, 32.5% were at risk of malnutrition and remaining 58.4% were having normal nutritional status. The possible predictors of malnutrition were older age, lower education level, staying single, unemployed, low income and less than three meals daily.Conclusions: The overall prevalence of malnutrition was found to be 9.1% but the proportion of elderly people at risk of malnutrition was relatively high. Diagnosis and treatment of elderly people at high risk for malnutrition based on the findings of this study may improve functional status and prognosis of elderly people.

Nutrition assessment and geriatric associated conditions among community dwelling Iranian elderly people

“…However, this prevalence was much lower, in studies from Spain and Australia with 13.5 and 16% respectively [2,20]. In addition to those studies, the prevalence of malnutrition was high in the elderly population of India, 32.5% [8], as well as among frail people, 56% [21] and patients with cognitive impairment, 35% [22]. The variation of malnutrition prevalence between these studies can be explained by the differing definitions of malnutrition, non-similar ages of the elderly in various settings such as private households, general practice, communities and institutions, and also the inclusion of individuals from urban or rural areas, subjects with cognitive impairments or frailty.…”

“…Estimates show that 42% of the elderly residents of institutions and 51% of hospitalized elderly patients in the United States are affected by malnutrition [6]. In Europe and Asia [3,7,8] prevalence of malnutrition varies from 12 to 84%. The prevalence of malnutrition is estimated to be 9.2% among elderly living at home and 21.6% among elderly residents of nursing homes in Iran [7].…”

Malnutrition assessed by mini nutritional assessment tool among Indian elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The I 2 value indicates that there had large variation of malnutrition in the data set ranging from 2.1% to 60.2%. 30,36 Low rate of malnutrition was reported by Sinha and Mukhopadhyay, Shivraj et al, Gnanaselvam et al, and Konda et al 20,30,35,36,40 In contrast, very high prevalence of elderly malnutrition was reported by Shanbhag, Patel et al, Ghosh et al and Lahiri et al 14,29,25,30 Previous studies in developing countries also showed high prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly as assessed by MNA. A very high prevalence of malnutrition (43.3%) was documented among the Pakistani elderly.…”

“…Most of the studies indicated educational status was a crucial risk factor for malnutrition. 9,12,16,20,[23][24][25][26]31 Illiteracy is extremely related to elderly malnutrition and supported by study of Baweja et al 50 Lack of education diminishes the consideration in regards to sound way of life, optimum diet which can attribute to individual nutritional status. Elderly having higher education, owing to their exposure to the outside world, are more aware of personal hygiene, curative health care than that of less educated elderly.…”

“…Poor socioeconomic status or less family income was found to be independently related to malnutrition reported by many studies. 9,10,14,16,20,25,26,31 This may be attributed to the undeniable reality that poor financial conditions have impact on dietary decisions of eating choices and eating patterns which ultimately affect the nutritional status of the elderly.…”