Association of Demographic, Socio-economic Features and Some Health Problems with Nutritional Status in Elderly

Ever decreasing rate of birth and death accompanied with the increasing rate of life expectancy has led to the increase of old population, especially in the developing countries. This study aimed to estimate the association of demographic, socio-economic features and some health problems with the nutritional status in older people. A cross-sectional study was designed and conducted by utilizing two-stage cluster sampling. The total of 541 subjects were included. MNA questionnaire was used to evaluate the nutrition status of the elderly. Data were analyzed using one way ANOVA and hierarchical linear regression. The relationship between qualitative variables was also evaluated by Chi-square test. The prevalence of malnutrition and the risk of getting malnutrition was 4.8% and 44.7 %, respectively. The women participants got lower score in nutritional status. The old people taking more than three drugs were were suffering from malnutrition by 58/8 %. About 22/4 % of the subjects lived alone, and there was a statistically significant relation between living alone and malnutrition. Daily consumption of 3 main meals, fruits and vegetables, and good sources of protein was higher in the elderly with well nutritional status than in at-risk and malnurished eldely. There was a significant relationship between dental and mental conditions and malnutrition, and also age and socio-economic features were negatively related with the nutritional status. Considering the relationship between malnutrition and such factors as socio-economic status, depression, dietary patterns and oral health, it seems that besides nutritional intervention, socio-economic support has noticeable importance, especially for women.