Factores asociados al riesgo nutricional en adultos mayores autónomos de la ciudad de Arequipa, Perú

Objective: Determine the frequency of malnutrition or risk of malnutrition and the associated factors, in non-institutionalized autonomous older adults living in the city of Arequipa, Peru. Methods: Cross-sectional study in a sample of 214 older adults. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used to rate the nutritional status, the functional assessment using the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scala, the Pfeiffer test for the measurement of mental status, prevalence of depresion using the Yesavage scale and the socio-family risk with the test of Gijón. For the association between the risk factors with the MNA, the crude Odds Ratio (OR) and adjusted Odds Ratio (ORa) were calculated, the latter using a binary logistic regression model, with 95% confidence intervals (CI95%). Results: Of the total of subjects studied, 88,3% are women and 11,7% men. 51% presented risk of malnutrition and 2% malnutrition. The risk factors associated with malnutrition or nutritional risk were: age (OR=3,2; 95% CI [1,6-6,2]), previous pathologies (OR=3,9; 95% CI [1,7- 8,8]), functional dependency (OR = 3,8; 95% CI [2,0-7,4]) and be at social risk (OR= 3,1; 95% CI [1,8-5,5]). Adjusted ORs identified the same risk factors with the exception of functional dependence (ORa = 1,7; 95% CI [0.6-4.5]). Conclusions: These findings showed a high percentage of older adults with nutritional risk or undernutrition associated with age, previous pathologies, functional dependence and social risk.