Chronic illness is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity among the elderly. To determine the prevalence and factors associated with chronic illness among the elderly in a rural community setting. A cross sectional study design was used. Stratified proportionate cluster sampling method was used to select respondents in Mukim Sepang, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. Out of 263 elderly residents (6.2% of the total population), 223 agreed to participate in the study giving a response rate of 84.8%. The prevalence of chronic illness among the elderly in Mukim Sepang was 60.1%. Out of 223 respondents, 134 were diagnosed as having chronic illness such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease, bronchial asthma or gout. Chronic illness was found to be significantly associated with functional dependence among the elderly (chi2=6.863, df=1, p<0.05). The prevalence of chronic illness among the elderly in the rural community is very high. Problems facing this age-group should be addressed comprehensively in order to formulate appropriate programmes for the health care of the elderly.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the: (1) prevalence of undernutrition as determined by the 'DETERMINE Your Nutritional Health Checklist' (NHC) and (2) factors independently associated with undernutrition among the older residents of these publicly funded shelter homes in Peninsular Malaysia. Design: A total of 1081 elderly people (59%M) over the age of 60 y were surveyed using questionnaires determining baseline demographics, nutritional and cognitive status, physical function and psychological well-being. Setting: Shelter homes, Peninsular Malaysia. Results: In all, 41.4% (n ¼ 447) were nourished (score o3), 32.1% (n ¼ 347) at moderate risk (score between 3 and 5) and 26.6% (n ¼ 287) were at high risk of undernutrition (score45) according to the NHC. A large proportion of subjects were underweight with 14.3% of subjects recording a low body mass index (BMI) o18.5 kg/m 2 and a further 18.2% recording a BMI between 18.5 and 20 kg/m 2 . The residential geriatric depression score (GDS-12R) (relative risk (RR) ¼ 1.03 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.05); P ¼ 0.002) and the number of illnesses (RR ¼ 1.14 (95% CI 1.07-1.21); Po 0.001) were found to be independently associated with nutritional risk (NHC score Z 3). Using a BMIo18.5 kg/m 2 as an objective marker for nutritional risk, the NHC was shown to have a sensitivity of 66.4% (95% CI 58.0-74.2%), specificity of 42.7% (95% CI 39.3-46.1%), positive predictive value of 16.2% (95% CI 13.3-19.5%) and a negative predictive value of 88.4% (95% CI 84.9-91.4%). Conclusions: Many elderly people residing in publicly funded shelter homes in Malaysia may be at-risk of undernutrition, and were underweight. The NHC is better used as an awareness tool rather than as a screening tool.