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Nutrition risk screening in community‐living older people attending medical or falls prevention services
Author(s) -
WATSON Sally,
ZHANG Zhongxian Katherine,
WILKINSON Tim J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1747-0080
pISSN - 1446-6368
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-0080.2010.01424.x
Subject(s) - medicine , referral , environmental health , gerontology , intervention (counseling) , risk assessment , risk perception , family medicine , perception , psychology , psychiatry , computer security , neuroscience , computer science
Aim: To identify the prevalence of nutrition risk among community‐living older people in Christchurch, New Zealand and to establish the frequently occurring risk factors for poor nutrition. Methods: A convenience sample of 152 community‐living older people was recruited from five medical centres and a falls prevention service. Interview in the home included nutrition risk assessment as measured by the Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition questionnaire. All participants at nutrition risk were either provided dietary advice at the time of interview or offered referral to a nutrition‐related intervention. Results: Of the participants, 23% (n = 35) were ‘at risk’ of poor nutrition and 31% (n = 47) were ‘at high risk’. The four frequently occurring risk factors for those ‘at high risk’ were: unintentional weight change (79%), eating alone (72%), perception of own weight (68%) and low milk product intake (66%). Conclusion: Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition questionnaire identified that approximately half of a sample of community‐living older people in Christchurch were at risk of poor nutrition. The implications of low scores on the nutrition risk screening questionnaire deserve further exploration.