Malnutrition and Its Related Factors in Elderly Covered by the Social Security Organization Hospitalized in Mashhad Hospitals

Objective (s): Considering the increasing population of the elderly in developing countries such as Iran, attention to the needs of this group is essential. One of the important needs of the elderly is appropriate nutrition. Failure to recognize malnutrition in a timely manner will result in deprivation of appropriate nutrition, illness, and decrease in quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and its related factors among the elderly covered by the Social Security Organization hospitalized in Mashhad hospitals. This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2018 on 200 elderly 60 years and older covered by Social Security Organization, hospitalized in two hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. The relationship between nutrition status and demographic, anthropometric and individual-health variables was investigated. Data were collected through a general information questionnaire and MNA questionnaire. SPSS version 24 was used for data analysis. The mean age of the elderly was 70.1±7.86 years. 25% of the elderly were at risk of malnutrition and 6% were malnourished. Malnutrition rate was higher in women and the elderly with lower BMI. The use of more than three drugs (OR=2.251 CI95%=1.015-4.989), acute disease/psychiatric stress (OR=16.152 CI95%= 6.048-43.140), neuropsychiatric problems (OR=3.908 CI95%=1.479-10.325), mobility limitation (OR=6.399 CI95%=1.446-28.317) and older age (OR=2.371   CI95%=1.007-5.582) and BMI of less than 23 (OR=9.823   CI95%=3.747-25.754) were risk factors for nutritional disturbance. Considering the importance of nutrition status and its impact on the health and quality of life of the elderly, it seems that the continuous screening and evaluation of the nutrition status of the elderly covered by the Social Security Organization is of great importance and is recommended to be placed on the agenda by the Social Security Organization.