A study on nutritional status of elderly and its correlates from urban field practice areas of SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun Luthra Megha1, Negi K.S.2, Ohri Puneet3,* 1Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 2Professor Biostatistics, Dept. of Community Medicine, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 3Professor and Head, Dept. of Community Medicine, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India *Corresponding Author Email: ohri7puneet@rediffmail.com
Online published on 14 January, 2019. Abstract Introduction Number of elderly persons is rapidly increasing worldwide, mostly in developing countries. The elderly are at increased risk of nutritional inadequacy which, if detected in time, can be reversed. A comprehensive nutritional assessment tool called Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) has been confirmed to detect malnutrition in the elderly with reasonable accuracy. Aims and Objectives To detect the prevalence and correlates of malnutrition in the elderly. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in urban field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun using a pre designed, pre tested questionnaire filled by trained health teams. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 23. Result Prevalence of malnutrition in elderly was found to be 32.2% which is significantly associated with changes in food intake and weight over past three months, mobility, neuropsychological problems, acute disease/psychological stress and BMI. Conclusion Malnutrition in the elderly can be managed with a multi-disciplinary approach that treats the pathology as well as uses social and dietary interventions. Top Keywords Nutritional status, Elderly, Mini nutritional assessment. Top |