Loneliness in the elderly and its relation to Nutrition status, a review article

Loneliness is an important factor in the occurrence or strengthening of other disorders in aging period. Malnutrition is a very common clinical disorder risk factor in elderly people and its complications increase the risk of mortality in the elderly. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between loneliness and nutritional status in aging period via literature review. In this study, a simple review was carried out by searching in data bases of SCOPUS, PUBMED, PROQUEST, SCIENCE DIRECT, ISC, IRANDOC and MAGIRAN with the key words of " Loneliness, Malnutrition, Nutritional status" alongside with the words "Elderly old, Aging, Old adult" with time limitation, from 2000 to the present. Some studies have reported the loneliness as one of the factors affecting malnutrition in terms of weight loss and slimming in the elderly, while others have expressed loneliness as an effective factor in obesity and overweight in the elderly. Many studies confirm that both elderly groups (overweight and underweight) increase the relative death risk in the elderly (aged 65-74). The risk of malnutrition among the elderly is associated with reduced appetite, decreased functional status and increased psychosocial problems. Therefore, regular assessment of nutritional status and its effective factors, adjustment of training courses for health workers (physicians, nurses, psychologists and nutritionists) is essential to identify and reduce the clinical, functional, social or economic risk factors for malnutrition.