Abstract
BackgroundAlthough China is undergoing rapid economic development, it is facing an ageing population. No data exists on malnutrition risks of older adults in an affluent Chinese society. The aim of this study is to examine these risks and identify their associated factors among home-living older Chinese adults in Hong Kong.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study, to which home-living subjects aged 60 or above were recruited, between May and September 2017, from a non-governmental community organisation located in three different districts of Hong Kong. Nutritional status was assessed by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), and its associated factors examined included socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, health status and diet. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with malnutrition risks (MNA < 24).ResultsSix hundred thirteen subjects (mean age: 78.5 ± 7.4; 54.0% females) completed the survey. Nearly 30% (n = 179) were at risk of malnutrition. By multivariable logistic regression, subjects (1) whose vision was only fair or unclear, (2) with poor usual appetite and (3) with main meal skipping behaviour had significantly higher malnutrition risk (all p < 0.05).ConclusionsIn this affluent Chinese society, the malnutrition risk in older adults is close to the global average, which is a matter for much concern. Interventions are therefore warranted that target vulnerable groups with poor vision, appetite, and meal skipping behaviour.Trial registrationNot applicable.
Highlights
China is undergoing rapid economic development, it is facing an ageing population
A large proportion did not adhere to dietary guidelines on the vegetable (82.9%), fruit (72.9%), meat (93.3%) and milk (80.4%) groups, with at least 80% below the recommendations
The findings show that nearly 30% of the subjects were at risk of malnutrition, close to the global average, which revealed that 37.7% of the community older adults were at malnourished risk or already malnourished [51]
Summary
China is undergoing rapid economic development, it is facing an ageing population. Certain socio-demographic characteristics are associated with that risk: older age [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17], female sex [9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 19], unmarried [16, 20], low education level [10, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21], unemployment [19], low income [18, 21], living alone [12, 19], lifestyle choices including smoking [22] and less physical activity [21], health status including comorbidity [11], the use of dentures [23], chewing difficulty [20, 24, 25] and poor appetite [25, 26] Other factors such as alcohol intake [14, 22] and financial support [15, 18, 19] have been investigated, the. The relationship between adherence to local dietary guidelines, or dietary behaviour such as meal skipping and food preferences and malnutrition, have been less investigated
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