Nutrition and health-related quality of life in frail older adults

Abstract

Background: Frail older adults are at risk for poor nutrition and frequently experience declining healthrelated quality of life (HR-QOL). The relationship between nutritional risk and HR-QOL although intuitive, has been rarely studied.

Objective: To determine the independent association of nutritional risk with HR-QOL in frail older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional survey. Data were collected by interviewer-administered questionnaire. Nutritional risk was measured by SCREEN (Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition) and HR-QOL by perceived health status and report of number of days in the past month where physical or mental health was not good, or where activities were limited. Frail (n=367) seniors were recruited from 23 community service providers. A wide variety of covariates were also measured. Multivariate modeling based on a conceptual model was used to identify factors associated with HR-QOL.

Results: Nutritional risk appears to be a significant and important factor associated with HR-QOL. Other significant covariates were: falls, social supports, social activity, health behaviours, pain and medication use.

Conclusion: Nutritional risk as measured by SCREEN appears to be a significant covariate in explaining differences in HRQOL among frail older adults. Further work should determine if nutritional risk predicts changes in HR-QOL over time.