Relationship between functional capacity, nutritional status and sociodemographic variables of institutionalized older adults

Abstract

Objective To analyze the relationship between functional capacity, nutritional status, and sociodemographic variables of older adults living in long-term care facilities. Method This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 82 institutionalized older adults. For data collection, we used the Barthel Index to assess the degree of independence in the performance of basic activities of daily living and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) to assess the nutritional status of older adults. Data were collected in five geriatric long-term care facilities located in southern Brazil. Ordinal regression analyses were performed to identify associations between contextual social factors, and nutritional status with the functional capacity of institutionalized older adults. Results Most participants showed complete independence in performing activities of daily living (39.0%) and poor nutritional status (59.8%). The multivariate ordinal regression analysis showed that older adults with higher scores in the nutritional assessment are associated with better indicators of functional capacity (OR=1.33; 95% CI=1.15 to 1.54; p<0.001). We did not find an association between educational level, pressure injuries, body mass index, and functionality. Conclusion Nutritional status is a significant predictor for dependency in institutionalized older adults.