Premium
Prefrailty in community‐dwelling older adults is associated with nutrition status
Author(s) -
Chang ShuFang,
Lin PeiLing
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.13063
Subject(s) - medicine , gerontology , body mass index , cross sectional study , physical therapy , pathology
Aims and objectives This study investigated the differences of demographic characteristics and nutrition status between prefrail and nonfrail older adults. Meanwhile, the factors related to the nutrition status of community‐dwelling older adults were also studied. Background The W orld H ealth O rganisation has actively developed prevention programmes to address geriatric frailty. However, few previous studies have focused on the relationship between prefrailty and nutrition status. Design This study adopted a cross‐sectional and correlational research design. Methods Community‐dwelling older adults were recruited for this study. The participants’ nutrition status was assessed using the M ini‐ N utritional A ssessment tool, and their frailty status was evaluated based on the S tudy of O steoporotic F ractures indicators. The S tudy of O steoporotic F ractures criteria comprise the following three items: >5% loss in total body weight within one year; inability to rise five times from a chair without assistance and a self‐reported lack of energy. Inclusion criteria were age ≥65 years, living independently at home and exhibiting neither mental impairment nor acute disease. Results Data were gathered from 152 participants; most were men, lived alone and had a level of education lower than elementary school. Multiple linear regressions were used to evaluate the association between variables and nutritional status, the results of which revealed that prefrailty and body mass index were independently related to the participants’ nutrition status. Conclusions The results showed that nutritional assessment can be employed with community‐dwelling older adults. In particular, prefrailty and body mass index were key factors that affected nutritional status in older adults. Relevance to clinical practice Community nurses must understand the risk factors related to nutritional status in community‐dwelling older people. If nurses use this approach, prefrail older adults are likely to experience improved confidence in maintaining their health and a decreased incidence of frailty and malnutrition.