Nutritional Status and Associated Factors Among the Community-Dwelling Elderly Population in Debre Berhan Town, North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Nutritional status of the elderly is one of the important determinants of their health and quality of life. However, there is limited evidence on the prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly population in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the nutritional status and associated factors among the community-dwelling elderly population, in Debre Berhan town, Ethiopia. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was used among a random sample of 347 elderly people living in Debre Berhan town, North Shewa, Ethiopia from April 1– 30, 2020. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and then exported to STATA14 for analysis. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression analyses were done after checking parallel line assumptions with the STATA command “ologit” and “gologit2” for POM and PPOM, respectively. And odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval was estimated by “ologit” and “or” . The level of statistical significance was declared at a p-value of < 0.05. Results: A total of 341 elderly groups participated in this study with a response rate of 98.27%. Out of this, 21.1%, 95% CI: (16.4%, 25.2%) were malnourished and 49.3%, 95% CI: (43.9%, 55.3%) were at risk of malnutrition. In multivariable ordinal logistic regression, for being at risk of malnutrition and being malnourished, the following variables were significantly associated; being male, 2.03 (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.63), being aged above 75 years, 2.58 (AOR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.34, 4.99), living with others, 3 (AOR = 3.00, 95% CI: 1.23, 7.05), not having a care giver, 2.21 (AOR=2.21, 95% CI: 1.14, 4.27), lack of formal education, 2.06 (AOR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.19, 3.57), being in the low category of wealth index, 3.27 (AOR = 3.27, 95% CI: 1.95, 5.5), having depression, 1.9 (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.94) and alcohol consumption, 1.77 (AOR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.99) were significantly associated. Conclusion: One-fifth of the participants were malnourished and around half of the participants were at risk of malnutrition. Keywords: malnutrition, risk of malnutrition, factors, elderly, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia