Abstract
BackgroundThis study described the differences between elderly men and women living in Lebanese long-term care nursing homes on socio-economic, health and nutritional status.MethodsThis study used a cross-sectional design. Field researchers obtained data from 221 residents; 148 (67%) women and 73 (33%) men, living in 36 nursing homes. Data on health conditions; nutritional, psychological, and functional status; socio-demographic characteristics, as well as social relations were collected. The analysis used both chi-square and t-test tests.ResultsThe majority of elderly had low socio-economic and poor health status. In comparison to men, women were significantly less educated, had lower occupational status, had no partner, relied financially on their children and relatives, and enjoyed better social relations and health behaviours. Furthermore, the prevalence of both; malnutrition, and at risk of malnutrition, were at 3.2% and 27.6% respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between women and men on Mini Nutritional Assessment, Activities of Daily Living, Geriatric Depression Scale, Body Mass Index, and chronic diseases. While women reported “good” health status compared to men, they continued to have higher prevalence of diseases and chronic pain.ConclusionsThis study explored the socio-demographic, health, and nutritional status of elderly residing in Lebanese nursing homes and compared these characteristics across gender. The results indicated the need of health support and institutional interventions for elderly women residents.
Highlights
This study described the differences between elderly men and women living in Lebanese long-term care nursing homes on socio-economic, health and nutritional status
The findings generally showed that all elderly living in institutions [3,12,13], and women in particular [4], tended to suffer from high prevalence of malnutrition
The number of long-term care nursing homes (NHs) and their elderly population increased from 33 NHs with 2,660 elderly in 2005 [16] to 46 NHs with 3,299 elderly in 2008 [17]
Summary
Study design and setting This study used a questionnaire targeting all elderly people living in Lebanese NHs. Sample and exclusion criteria Five exclusion criteria resulted in the inclusion of those elderly who were able to interact with interviewers These criteria were: 1) having been in NHs for less than three months; 2) being under 60 years of age; 3) suffering from a terminal disease; 4) being blind and/or deaf; 5) clinically demented or of very poor heath and refusing to participate in this study and 6) exhibiting cognitive functioning measured by a score of less than 20 for the Adapted Mini Mental State Examination (AMMSE) [21]. Assessment tools The following instruments, described by Doumit and Nasser [21], were used in this study: 1) The AMMSE, an Arabic adapted version of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) [21], was used to evaluate cognitive functioning It made the questions simple and easy to follow among illiterate elderly. Chi-square tests were performed through a cross tabulation of categorical data and a t-test was used to compare means between genders
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