Authors : Parvin Shahri, Maryam Parsanahad, Marzie Zilaee and Shahab Papi
Abstract: Malnutrition is a common problem among nursing homes elderly people. The current study evaluated nutritional status, using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and general health, using General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) in all nursing homes elderly people of Ahvaz in 2016. This cross-sectional study recruited 130 nursing homes elderly people, comprised of 44 males (33.8%) and 86 females (66.2%) at average of 70.0�7.8 years. The MNA was performed to estimate functional, cognitive and nutritional status and GHQ-12 was completed to general health assessing. SPSS Software was used for data analysis. According to the MNA questionnaire, 13.1% of the elderly were malnourished, 60.0% at risk of malnutrition and 26.9% well nourished. Weight loss, mobility, BMI and Neuropsychological problems showed the strong correlations to total MNA score. One hundred twenty nine elderly people (99.26%) had undesirable general health status (score<3.5). Considering the high percentage of elderly people with malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition and undesirable general health status, the need for intervention, especially, nutritional and psychological intervention is obvious.
Parvin Shahri, Maryam Parsanahad, Marzie Zilaee and Shahab Papi, 2020. Assessing the Nutritional Status and General Health in Nursing Homes Elderly People of Ahvaz, 2016. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 14: 9-14.