The mediating effects of depressive symptoms on nutritional status of older adults in long-term care facilities.

OBJECTIVE

To test whether depressive symptoms mediate the effects of activities of daily living (ADLs) on nutritional status of older adults living in long-term care (LTC) facilities in Taiwan.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Seventy-three community-based LTC facilities in northern Taiwan.

PARTICIPANTS

This study sampled 306 adults ranging in age from 65 to 97 years who were free of acute infection or disease and who were able to communicate.

MEASUREMENTS

Nutritional status was assessed by the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scale and depressive symptoms were assessed by the short form of the Geriatric Depressive Scale (GDS-SF).

RESULTS

MNA scores revealed that 65% of the subjects were at risk for malnutrition (17 to 23.5 points). In addition, depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between ADLs and nutritional status, with 10.7% of the effect of depressive symptoms on nutritional status going through the mediator.

CONCLUSION

Interventions to reduce depressive symptoms among institutionalized older adults should focus on improving nutritional status rather than promoting ADLs, which are believed to be difficult to change.