| Sub-title | |
| Author | Gerald Choon-Huat Koh |
| Abstract | Background: International studies on nursing home residents have demonstrated that undernutrition is a prevalent and serious health issue among this population of older persons. On the other hand, obesity is prevalent among the elderly in Malta. However, to date, there has been no published study on the nutritional status of elderly nursing home residents in Malta. Objective: To assess the nutritional status of Maltese nursing home residents and determine the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity. Method: Cross-sectional quantitative survey research was undertaken from 19 Jan to 23 Feb 04 using the full Mini- Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tool which includes Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement. Subjects: 43 eligible residents (23 females and 19 males) from one female and one male ward of St Vincent de Paul Residence (SVPR). Results: The prevalence of undernutrition was 9.5% and risk of undernutrition was 71.5%. The prevalence of underweight, overweight and obese residents was 7.1%, 35.7% and 26.2% respectively. Conclusions: Overnutrition, instead of undernutrition, is a nutritional problem among nursing home residents in SVPR. However, a high proportion of residents remain at risk of undernutrition. Nutritional assessment is recommended to individualise diet to residents needs. |
Published in: | |
| Journal | Malta Medical Journal |
| Volume | 17 Issue 01 |
| Pages | 28 - 32 |
| Date | |
| Link to journal | |
| Key words | body mass index, malnutrition, nursing home, obesity, older people, overnutrition, undernutrition, mini nutritional assessment |