Nutritional assessment and associated factors in the elderly: apopulation-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess nutritional status and associated factors in elderly individuals.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in residential homes with a probabilistic cluster sample. Two-hundred eighty-seven individuals 65-74 y of age were interviewed and examined in the city of Cruz Alta, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the socioeconomic, behavioral, and general health conditions; the number of present teeth were counted. Nutrition was assessed with a validated instrument-the Mini Nutritional Assessment-which classifies the patient as normal (eutrophic), at nutritional risk, or malnourished. For data analysis, the participants were categorized in eutrophic or at nutritional risk (at risk of malnutrition + malnourished). The associations were assessed by either the χ or Mann-Whitney tests. Uni- and multivariate Poisson regression analyses verified the associations. The significance level was set at 5%.

RESULTS

The prevalence of nutritional risk was 48.4%. In the multivariate model, edentulous individuals with no complete denture or with only one complete denture (prevalence ratio PR, 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-2.13) and elderly individuals with no access to the dentist (PR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.11-1.88) presented higher potential for nutritional risk than their respective controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The results showed that approximately half of the participants (48.4%) were at nutritional risk. The lack of complete or partial rehabilitation of edentulous patients and the lack of access to the dentist were associated with higher nutrition risk.