79 Relationship Between Depression and Nutritional Status Among the Elderly Attending Selected Primary Healthcare Centers in Lagos

Abstract

Introduction Depression causes and worsens malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition in the elderly of the developed world was about 22.6% and about 40% of hospitalized elderly are malnourished while about 4.8% have one major depressive episode in people aged 50 and above. Food rich in omega-3 has antidepressant effect and its low intake is linked with dementia. Decrease dietary folate has been linked with depression. This study was aimed at determining the relationship between depression and nutritional status among the elderly in selected primary healthcare centers (PHC) in Lagos Nigeria. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using multi-stage technique to select 219 participants by systematic sampling method from the selected PHC centers. Data was collected using structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. Nutritional status and Depression were assessed using Mini-Nutritional Assessment and Geriatric Depression Scale respectively. Data analysis was carried out using Epi-info 7.1. Associations were tested using Chi-square for categorical variables while t-test and analysis of variance were used for continuous variables. Associations were statistically significant if two-tailed probability was less than 5% (0.05). Results It was found that 57.9% and 47.1% were malnourished and depressed respectively. There was a statistically significant association between the sex of the participants and the nutritional status (p = 0.048). Statistically significant association existed between sex (p = 0.024), marital status (p = <0.001), educational qualification and depression. Statistically significant association between monthly income (p = <0.001), living arrangement (p = 0.002) and depression was demonstrated. There was a statistically significant association between family support (p = <0.001), nutritional status (p = <0.001) and depression. There was statistically significant difference between the height (p = 0.00885), weight (p = 0.00052, waist-hip ratio (p = 0.036) and the nutritional status. Remarkably, there was statistically significant difference between the waist (p = 0.023) and hip circumference (p = 0.047) and their level of depression. Conclusion A high prevalence of poor nutritional status and depression existed among the elderly primary healthcare centers.

Nutrition, Epigenetics, and Major Depressive Disorder: Understanding the Connection

“…Thus, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of this fact, and every time, more hospitals are contemplating the role of nutritionists to reduce health costs. In poor infrastructure areas, it has been a cost-effective measure to warn about the struggles in the quality of life of their population, always finding an association between MDD and malnourishment ( 70 – 72 ).…”

Enhancing care transition performance of community pharmacies in Nigeria

“…Studies have identified possible predisposing and enabling factors for this behavior among patients, including financial challenges, long hospital waiting times, poor understanding of the health system, and poor knowledge about their medical conditions and reason for referral 13,14 . Notwithstanding, Akodu et al 20 reported an overall high satisfaction level with the quality of service received among elderly patients attending nine PHC centers in Lagos state, despite having higher expectations for the services across the five quality domains measured 17 . Similarly, high satisfaction scores were reported by Auta et al 21 among patients consulting pharmacists at CPs in Jos, Nigeria, citing a better understanding of their conditions postvisit 18 .…”