MALNUTRITION IN OLDER ADULTS AND ITS CORRELATES WITH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

Elderly research suggests inappropriate food intake as a one of the health issue. Malnutrition may have an undesirable effect on the health of the body. Elderly people are most at risk because they are often the result of loss of appetite, difficulties with daily shopping, meal preparation, somatic disorders and mental disorders such as depression. The purpose of the study was to investigate malnutrition among the elderly who are staying in social care institutions and to assess its association with anxiety and depression. The data from the study were obtained using the Universal Malnutrition Screening, Geriatric Alert Scale and the Geriatric Depression Scale as tools. Overall, 102 respondents from two social care institutions participated in the study. The majority were women 64.7% (35.3% were male). Respondents ranged in age from 65 to 91 years. There were 27.44% of participants with malnutrition risk and 45.10% with signs of anxiety. Depression symptoms were detected 60.78% of respondents. Within the research sample, a statistically significant relationship between malnutrition and depression was found (r = 0.302, p< 0.01). Prevention of malnutrition and the early detection of depression among seniors will contribute to the improvement of the quality of their life and quality of health care.

[1]  M. Balsamo,et al.  Assessment of anxiety in older adults: a review of self-report measures , 2018, Clinical interventions in aging.

[2]  D. Dosa,et al.  Characteristics of Older Adults on Waiting Lists for Meals on Wheels: Identifying Areas for Intervention , 2017, Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society.

[3]  U. Erkorkmaz,et al.  Nutritional status and laboratory parameters among internal medicine inpatients. , 2015, Nigerian journal of clinical practice.

[4]  Y. Yeşil,et al.  Malnutrition in Community-Dwelling Elderly in Turkey: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study , 2015, Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research.

[5]  Soojeong Kim,et al.  The study on development of easily chewable and swallowable foods for elderly , 2015, Nutrition research and practice.

[6]  U. Söderhamn,et al.  Nutritional self-care among a group of older home-living people in rural Southern Norway , 2015, Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare.

[7]  P. Barberger‐Gateau,et al.  Nutritional Status in Community-Dwelling Elderly in France in Urban and Rural Areas , 2014, PloS one.

[8]  R. Wirth,et al.  Olfactory function and malnutrition in geriatric patients. , 2013, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[9]  Rokhsareh Meamar,et al.  Malnutrition is associated with depression in rural elderly population , 2013, Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

[10]  B. Jacobsen,et al.  Risk of malnutrition is associated with mental health symptoms in community living elderly men and women: The Tromsø Study , 2011, BMC psychiatry.

[11]  Y. Conwell,et al.  Anxiety and its correlates among older adults accessing aging services , 2011, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[12]  L. Mihalache,et al.  Correlations between Nutritional Screening Score and Anthropometric Parameters in Institutionalized Elderly , 2015 .

[13]  D. Segal,et al.  Development and initial validation of a self-report assessment tool for anxiety among older adults: the Geriatric Anxiety Scale. , 2010, Journal of anxiety disorders.