Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
Protein-energy malnutrition is a major health concern in home-dwelling older adults, particularly in the context of an ageing population. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
What is the prevalence of malnutrition among older adults living independently in the community according to geographical region, sampling frame, rurality and sex?
Study design:
This review article included 111 studies from 38 countries (n = 69,702 participants, with a mean age of ≥65 years).
Meta-regression was used to explore predictors of malnutrition prevalence in pooled statistics with high heterogeneity.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found the pooled prevalence of malnutrition in the older community setting ranged from 0.8% [95% CI = 0.2-1.7%] in Northern Europe to 24.6% [95% CI = 0.0-67.9%] in South-East Asia.
The investigators found of all sampling frames, participants receiving homecare services had the highest prevalence at 14.6% [95% CI = 9.9-20.0%].
The investigators found malnutrition prevalence in rural communities [9.9%, 95% CI = 4.5-16.8%] was double that in urban communities [5.7%, 95% CI = 4.2-7.3%] and higher among females than males [odds ratio = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.27-1.66, p 0.00001].
The investigators concluded that the prevalence of malnutrition among older adults living in South-East Asia is very high (24.6%), particularly among rural communities and females. These findings provide strategic insight to develop public and community health priorities for preventing malnutrition and associated poor health outcomes.
Original title:
A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition: associations with geographical region and sex by Crichton M, Craven D, […], Marshall S.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30188972
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on food fortification/malnutrition and protein right here.