How healthy is our geriatric population? a community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction:With the rise in aged population there is a greater need to look into their nutritional and physical disability aspects which is otherwise neglected. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of malnutrition, anemia and physical disability among the community-dwelling aged population.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out in a rural block of north Tamil Nadu. Seventeen villages were selected using cluster sampling based on probability proportional to size. A total of 340 participants of age 60 years and above were selected from these clusters using simple random sampling. Nutritional status and physical disability were assessed using mini nutritional assessment scale and Barthel index. Blood samples were collected for anemia. Appropriate data entry and statistical analysis were done in EPIDATA and SPSS 16.Statistical Analysis Used:Besides calculating prevalence chi square and logistic regression tests were done to identify associated risk factors.Results and Conclusions:The overall prevalence of “at risk of malnutrition,” anemia and physical disability were 10.9%, 38.2% and 20.6%, respectively. None of the community-dwelling aged population was found to be malnourished. Anemia and physical disability were significantly higher among the older age group [(OR 2.29 (1.17–4.89), (OR 2.81 (95% CI 1.31–6.04), respectively]. Similarly women were more affected with physical disability than men (OR 2.27 (1.28–4.02)). Further studies need to be done to explore the reasons for high prevalence of anemia.

Effect of socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors on nutritional status of elderly: a cross sectional study

“…A significant association was found between low MNA scoring and advanced age. 8,12,13 A study conducted by Reddy et al in rural areas of Tamil Nadu observed that the mean age of the entire study population was 69.8±7.8 years which was almost similar to our study. 14 In the present study, 55% of the participants were females with female to male ratio of 1.25:1 suggesting female predominance.…”

Assessment of functional status and daily life problems faced by elderly in a North Indian city

“…These may be compounded by physical incapacity due to an exhaustive list of disabilities because of multiple medical problems of varying severity. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The cumulative effect of these may be much greater than any individual disease. The elderly who are living alone are likely to suffer more from both acute and chronic illnesses.…”

Assessment of nutritional status of the geriatric patients attending the outpatient department of an urban health training centre: a cross-sectional study

“…A significant association was also found between low MNA scoring and advanced age in the study conducted by Patil et al 10 Study conducted by Paul et al, Agarwal et al and Krithika et al also showed similar association between advanced age and low MNA score. [11][12][13] The association between the female gender and nutritional status was found to be significant in our study. Similar findings were observed in the study conducted by Rashmi Agarwalla et al 11 Studies done by Saeidlou et al, Donini et al and Boulos et al also found similar results.…”