Introduction: Aging is a predictable phenomenon that its prevalence is increasing dramatically in the world. There is an association between quality of life, functional independence, and nutritional risk in elderlies, so the aim of the current study is the evaluation of the quality of life and functional independence's effects on nutritional status.
Methods: A total of 160 elderly people that had a hospitalization for at least 6 months in the care home facilities were selected from 2 care home facility centers to participate in the study. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using questionnaires for demographic characteristics, health data, eating habits, quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), functional assessment (Barthel Index), and mini-nutrition assessment (MNA) throughout the face-to-face interview.
Results: The overall quality of life score, age, weight, and BMI differed significantly between malnourished and well-nourished subjects. Also, the daily living activity score of subjects who were well-nourished was higher than malnourished participants. Higher daily living activity decreased the risk of being malnourished (OR malnutrition/well-nourished = 0.306, P < 0.001). There was also a significant relationship between BMI (OR malnutrition/well-nourished = 0.731, P = 0.001; OR at-risk/well-nourished = 0.786, P = 0.003) and marital status with MNA score (OR single/married = 1.460, P = 0.001 for malnutrition; OR single/married = 1.183, P = 0.004 for being at risk of malnutrition).
Conclusions: The elderly living in nursing homes are exposed to nutritional risks and mental disorders. So with timely assessment and interventions to improve the quality of life and physical and mental health of elder dwellers, their malnutrition can be prevented.
Keywords: Aging; Elderly; Function; Nutrition; Quality of life.
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