Seid Ahmed Muhye, Babbel Netsanet Fentahun
School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dire Dawa University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
Front Aging. 2022 Nov 10;3:1002367. doi: 10.3389/fragi.2022.1002367. eCollection 2022.
Improved health care and rising life expectancy are creating a growing pool of old age people all over the world, including Africa. Malnutrition in the old age people is associated with both short- and long-term negative health outcomes. However, the reported burdens of malnutrition are fragmented and inconsistent, where more compiled evidence is warranted to aid decision-makers. Hence, this paper is aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of malnutrition among old age people in Africa. A systematic search for research reporting the prevalence of malnutrition among old age people (aged above 60 years) was conducted from HINARI/PubMed and Google Scholar databases using combination keywords. Published articles in English language starting from January 2000 to October 2021 were screened. We presented the results based on the standard for reporting systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. A random-effect meta-analysis was done to estimate the prevalence of malnutrition along with the 95% confidence intervals. The publication bias was assessed using the funnel plot. A total of 1,442 studies were retrieved based on the search strategy, where only 36 studies ( = 15,266 participants) reported from 11 African countries were included for meta-analysis. The reported prevalence of malnutrition ranges from 2.2 to 77.3% across Africa. Overall, the pooled prevalence of malnutrition was 18% (95% CI: 15-22; I = 98.1; < 0.001). The prevalence is higher in the Central Africa (3.8%; 95% CI: 3.2-4.4), in the community (3.1%; 95% CI: 2.7-3.7), and among advanced age (3.5%; 95% CI: 2.3-5.4). The prevalence of malnutrition in African old age people is high and differs by setting, assessment tool, and country of residence. Hence, due attention to geriatric nutrition is mandatory, and the need for a valid, reliable, and simple screening tool should be thought of.
改善的医疗保健和不断提高的预期寿命正在世界各地，包括非洲，造就越来越多的老年人群体。老年人营养不良与短期和长期的负面健康结果都有关联。然而，所报告的营养不良负担是零散且不一致的，需要更多综合证据来帮助决策者。因此，本文旨在估计非洲老年人营养不良的合并患病率。我们使用组合关键词，从HINARI/PubMed和谷歌学术数据库中对报告老年人（60岁以上）营养不良患病率的研究进行了系统检索。对2000年1月至2021年10月期间发表的英文文章进行了筛选。我们根据观察性研究的系统评价和荟萃分析报告标准呈现结果。进行了随机效应荟萃分析以估计营养不良的患病率及其95%置信区间。使用漏斗图评估发表偏倚。根据检索策略共检索到1442项研究，其中只有来自11个非洲国家的36项研究（n = 15266名参与者）被纳入荟萃分析。整个非洲报告的营养不良患病率在2.2%至77.3%之间。总体而言，营养不良的合并患病率为18%（95%置信区间：15 - 22；I² = 98.1；p < 0.001）。患病率在中非地区较高（3.8%；95%置信区间：3.2 - 4.4），在社区中（3.1%；95%置信区间：2.7 - 3.7），以及高龄人群中（3.5%；95%置信区间：2.3 - 5.4）。非洲老年人营养不良的患病率很高，并且因环境、评估工具和居住国家而异。因此，必须对老年营养给予应有的关注，并且应考虑需要一种有效、可靠且简单的筛查工具。
