Screening Community-Dwelling Elders for Nutritional Risk: Determining the Influence of Race and Residence

Abstract

This investigation explores nutritional risk among two subgroups of older adults African American and geographically isolated elders (65 years or older). Telephone interviews were conducted with a stratified random sample of 1,126 respondents and included a 10-item nutritional risk appraisal. Results indicated that over one half of the sample may be considered to be at moderate or high nutritional risk, with African American and rural elders at dispropor tionately higher risk and rural Blacks at highest risk across a variety of indicators. The nutritional vulnerability of these groups may prompt practitioners to design and target services specifically for their needs, while also stimulating research to improve our understanding of the factors that account for these differential risks.

Barriers to Dental Services for Older Adults

“…19 Furthermore, poor oral health and the loss of teeth are associated with lower intakes of nutrient rich foods and dietary fiber. 1,20 Also, chronic diseases and the side effects of medications to treat these diseases affect oral health and may lead to reduced salivary flow, altered sense of taste and smell, and oral and facial pain. 21 Some older adults with impaired dentition may have trouble sleeping because of dental pain.…”

Nutrition Risk Screening of Home-Delivered Meal Participants

“…The Nutrition Screening Initiative's (NSI) DETERMINE Checklist, which was developed as one of three screening tools to increase nutrition awareness among older persons (Rush, 1997;The Nutrition Screening Initiative, 1996), is commonly used as a screening tool for nutritional risk by providers of ENP services (Joseph et al, 1997;Ponza et al, 1996). Each participant was asked about ten indicators (see Table 1) frequently associated with inadequate nutritional intake (Schoenberg et al, 1997). Each of the risk indicators consisted of a dummy variable (1 = affirmative response).…”

Assessing Nutrition Risk and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Low-Income Older Adults Living in Mississippi

“…The nutritional risk of elderly African Americans is of particular concern because of the disproportionate occurrence of morbidity (Schoenberg et al 1997) and high rates of poverty. The highest rates of poverty, occur among African Americans (22.7%), females (11.8%), and elders living alone (20.2%) (Greenberg 2000).…”

“…African American elderly also reported the highest rates of difficulty in obtaining health care and were more likely to delay health care due to costs. Studies indicate that rural elders have poorer health profiles compared to urban (Schoenberg et al 1997), and just over half (52%) of elderly Mississippians live in rural areas (Mississippi Department of Human Services 1996). African Americans, especially rural African Americans, manifest a pattern of high risk for undernutrition (Schoenberg et al 1997).…”

“…Studies indicate that rural elders have poorer health profiles compared to urban (Schoenberg et al 1997), and just over half (52%) of elderly Mississippians live in rural areas (Mississippi Department of Human Services 1996). African Americans, especially rural African Americans, manifest a pattern of high risk for undernutrition (Schoenberg et al 1997). The rural poor residing in the South, compared to people in any other area of the United States, are more likely to have serum vitamin A and vitamin C levels below acceptable limits as well as iron deficiencies (Davis 1994).…”