Abstract
Background: Malnutrition is a global health problem especially in extremes of age. Elderly people are a fast-growing group that is at greater risk of malnutrition due to high prevalence of comorbidities and limited resources available for them. Elderly are more prone to negative effects of malnutrition on quality of life and health outcomes due to their vulnerable nature and this is often preventable.
Aim: To assess the effect of nutritional status on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among community-dwelling elderly living in a rural village in Dakahliya, Egypt.
.Methods: A cross-sectional study. A random sample of 170 community-dwelling elderly living in Dakahliya. Demographic data were collected, and comprehensive geriatric assessment was done for each participant including history taking, clinical examination, psychological, mental and functional assessment. Assessment of nutritional status was done using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. HRQoL was measured using the Short-Form Health Survey-36 items (SF-36) questionnaire.
Results: The present study showed that among the 170 participants; 45(26.5%) of them were malnourished, 69 (40.6%) were at risk of malnutrition and 56 (32.9%) were well nourished, and showed that HRQoL was significantly poorer in malnourished elderly (P ˂0.001).
Conclusions: The high prevalence of malnutrition highlights the importance of regular screening of elderly at community settings. As improvement in HRQoL is a growing goal for the worldwide health care and the strong effect of nutritional status on HRQoL, nutritional screening and intervention are extremely important especially for elderly.