Abstract
BackgroundThere are limited longitudinal data regarding nutrient intake, nutritional status and physical function in community-dwelling ethnically diverse older adults. This study explored these variables and their relationship at baseline (n = 100) and 8-months’ follow-up (n = 81) among community-dwelling ethnically diverse older adults (≥60 years) in Birmingham, United Kingdom.MethodsMultiple-pass 24-h dietary recalls and the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form assessed nutritional intake and status, respectively. Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and handgrip strength measured physical function. Linear and multinomial regressions were used to predict relationships between physical function, nutritional status and nutrient intake.ResultsComplete data were collected at baseline (n = 100) and 8-months’ follow-up (n = 81). Mean (SD) age was 70 (8.1) years (60% male), with 62% being obese. Statistically significant decreases in intakes of vitamin B6, vitamin B1, iron, folate, and magnesium occurred over time. Daily intake of all micronutrients except vitamin B12, phosphorus and manganese were below the Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNI). SPPB (Z = -4.01, p < 0.001) and nutritional status (Z = -2.37, p = 0.018) declined over time. Higher SPPB scores at baseline (OR = 0.54 95% CI 0.35, 0.81) were associated with a slower decline in nutritional status.ConclusionThe observed declines and inadequate nutrient intakes in the absence of weight loss in just 8 months may pose serious challenges to healthy ageing, identifying an urgent need to re-evaluate and tailor appropriate dietary advice for this population. Additionally, the associations of nutrition and physical function observed in this study serves as an essential resource to design and implement community/faith-based interventions targeting early screening of nutritional status and physical function to ensure most older adults are assessed and treated accordingly.
Highlights
There are limited longitudinal data regarding nutrient intake, nutritional status and physical function in community-dwelling ethnically diverse older adults
In the United Kingdom (UK), there was a total of 11.2 million people aged 65+ years, representing 18% of the population in 2016 [2]
Older adults completing the study had a significantly higher Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) (P = 0.007), Handgrip Strength (HGS) (p = 0.027) and lower Waist circumference (WC) (p = 0.036) as compared to those lost to follow-up (n = 19)
Summary
There are limited longitudinal data regarding nutrient intake, nutritional status and physical function in community-dwelling ethnically diverse older adults. This study explored these variables and their relationship at baseline (n = 100) and 8-months’ follow-up (n = 81) among community-dwelling ethnically diverse older adults (≥60 years) in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The UK population is becoming increasingly ethnically diverse, with ethnic minorities significantly ageing alongside the white population [4]. The ageing and increasing ethnic diversity of the UK population has implications to the quality of life of the individual but significantly impacts on health and social care systems, the economy and the lives of family members [2, 5, 6]
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