Assessment of the Nutritional Status of 202 Elderly People Living at Home in Sidi-Bel-Abbès (Western Algeria)

Noureddine Menadi¹, Ghozlane Kelkoul¹, Ilhem Hassani¹, Belabbes Merrakchi², Slimane Belbraouet^3*

¹Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Djilali Liabès, Sidi-Bel-Abbès, Algérie.
²établissement Public de Santé de Proximité, Sidi Lahcen, Sidi-Bel-Abbès, Algérie.
³école des Sciences des Aliments, de Nutrition et d’études Familiales (ESANEF), Université de Moncton, Moncton, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/fns.2015.61002                

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is common for elderly representing a major public health problem with many consequences for the health. Objectives: To assess the nutritional status of a population of elderly living at home. Subjects and Methods: The assessment was conducted from a population of elderly living at home who saw their doctor in the office of a public health centre. For each subject, the anthropometric parameters (weight, height, body mass index (BMI)), biochemical (serum albumin) and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tools have been measured and calculated. Results: 202 mostly female (56.44%) subjects aged 73.59 ± 5.87 years were included in this study. 78% were suffering from chronic diseases, the most frequent of which was diabetes (32%). 7.43% of the diseased population have BMI < 21, 5.94% experienced undernutrition (MNA < 17) and 68.81% are at risk of malnutrition (MNA: 17 - 23.50). According to serum albumin, 8.91% of the sample is considered to be malnourished. Conclusion: The MNA has proven to be a screening tool more sensitive than other tools (BMI and albumin) in the evaluation of nutritional risk.

Keywords

Elderly, Nutritional Status, Anthropometric Parameters, Mini Nutritional Assessment, Albumin

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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