Abstract
Background: Studies that explore the nutritional status, sociodemographic factors, mental health variables, and physical health variables that affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of elderly patients are scarce in China.Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and nutritional status, sociodemographic characteristics, and health-related variables among Chinese elderly patients.Materials and Methods: Participants were recruited from six tertiary-level hospitals in six provinces or municipalities/cities throughout China from October 2018 to February 2019: a total of 9,996 participants aged 65 years and older were enrolled. The nutritional status and HRQoL were measured using the Mini Nutritional Assessment—Short Form (MNA-SF) and the EuroQoL Five-Dimension Visual Analog Scale, respectively. BMI was taken using standard measurement protocols. Sociodemographic characteristics included age, sex, education, marital status, ethnicity, smoking, alcohol drinking, and current residence. Mental and physical health variables such as frailty and depression were assessed using validated tested instruments. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze whether the nutritional status, sociodemographic characteristics, and health-related variables were associated with HRQoL.Results: According to the MNA-SF scores at the 30- and 90-day follow-up, 9.7% and 9.1% of participants were malnourished, respectively. Higher MNA-SF scores were related to higher HRQoL scores in older patients (regression coefficient; 95% confidence interval) both at the 30-day (0.660; 0.499–0.821) and 90-day (0.622; 0.434–0.809) follow-up. However, there were no significant associations between the body mass index values and HRQoL. Sociodemographic characteristics (such as age, smoking, and current residence), physical health variables (frailty, urinary function, defecation function, sleeping condition, and falling accidents in the past 12 months), and mental health variables (depression) were the main factors influencing HRQoL in this group.Conclusion: There are several factors associated with HRQoL among the population derived from this investigation of a representative sample of the Chinese hospitalized elderly population in tertiary hospitals. These findings could have major importance for the planning of “active aging” policies and programs.Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800017682, registered August 9, 2018.
Highlights
The aging population is growing rapidly worldwide and looks set to continue to increase even further in the future [1, 2]
We developed a multiple linear regression model including factors potentially associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL): age, sex, education, marital status, ethnicity, smoking, alcohol consumption, falling accidents in the past 12 months, sleeping condition, urinary function, defecation function, frailty, depression, and current residence
At the 30-day follow-up, 8,529 (85.3%) participants remained in the study, 121 (1.2%) participants died, and 1,346 (13.5%) had incomplete data
Summary
The aging population is growing rapidly worldwide and looks set to continue to increase even further in the future [1, 2]. In 2018, the number of Chinese older adults approached 241 million, accounting for 17.2% of the total population, and this figure is expected to approach 480 million by 2050 [1, 4]. The burden of malnutrition among the Chinese elderly is serious, and in 2017, for example, malnutrition increased hospital costs by RMB 214 (14% increase) per older adult [12]. Studies that explore the nutritional status, sociodemographic factors, mental health variables, and physical health variables that affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of elderly patients are scarce in China
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