Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018;22(9):1086-1091.
doi: 10.1007/s12603-018-1061-1.

Socioeconomic Position and Malnutrition among Older Adults: Results from the FRADEA Study

E O Hoogendijk  1 , T Flores Ruano, M Martínez-Reig, M López-Utiel, S Lozoya-Moreno, E Dent, P Abizanda
Affiliations

Socioeconomic Position and Malnutrition among Older Adults: Results from the FRADEA Study

E O Hoogendijk et al. J Nutr Health Aging. 2018.

Abstract

Objectives: Low socioeconomic position (SEP) is related to many health-related conditions in older adults. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the association between SEP and malnutrition, a condition with serious consequences for older people in terms of quality of life and adverse health events. In the current study, we investigated socioeconomic inequalities in malnutrition and sub-domains of malnutrition in a sample of Spanish older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional population-based study.

Setting: Urban area of Albacete, Spain.

Participants: 836 participants over age 70 from the first measurement wave (2007-2009) of the Frailty and Dependence in Albacete (FRADEA) study, a population-based cohort study.

Measurements: Educational level and occupational level were the indicators of SEP. Nutritional risk was measured with the Mini Nutrition Assessment® Short Form (MNA®-SF). Logistic regression analyses were performed.

Results: For both socioeconomic indicators there was a statistically significant association with nutritional risk (OR low education=1.99, 95% CI=1.18-3.35; OR low occupational level=1.71, 95% CI=1.08-2.72). However, these associations disappeared after adjusting for age and sex (OR low education=1.51, 95% CI=0.88-2.60 ; OR low occupational level=1.32, 95% CI=0.80-2.17). In adjusted models, statistically significant associations between SEP and sub-domains of the MNA®-SF were observed, but these associations were not consistent across socioeconomic indicators.

Conclusions: This study found that malnutrition is a condition that can appear in any older adult, regardless of their socioeconomic group. These findings suggest that interventions to prevent malnutrition in older adults can be targeted at a general older population, and do not have to be SEP specific.

Keywords: Older adults; malnutrition; nutritional assessment; socioeconomic position.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Poli S, Cella A, Puntoni M, Musacchio C, Pomata M, Torriglia D, Vello N, Molinari B, Pandolfini V, Torrigiani C, Pilotto A. Frailty is associated with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors in community-dwelling older subjects. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2017;29:721–728. 10.1007/s40520-016-0623-5 PubMed PMID: 27568018. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hoogendijk EO, Heymans MW, Deeg DJH, Huisman M. Socioeconomic inequalities in frailty among older adults: results from a 10-year longitudinal study in the Netherlands. Gerontology. 2018;64:157–164. 10.1159/000481943 PubMed PMID: 29055946. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Haider SI, Johnell K, Weitoft GR, Thorslund M, Fastbom J. The influence of educational level on polypharmacy and inappropriate drug use: a register-based study of more than 600,000 older people. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009;57:62–69. 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.02040.x PubMed PMID: 19054196. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Martinez-Reig M, Gomez-Arnedo L, Alfonso-Silguero SA, Juncos-Martinez G, Romero L, Abizanda P. Nutritional risk, nutritional status and incident disability in older adults. The FRADEA study. J Nutr Health Aging. 2014;18:270–276. 10.1007/s12603-013-0388-x PubMed PMID: 24626754. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jimenez-Redondo S, Beltran de Miguel B, Gavidia Banegas J, Guzman Mercedes L, Gomez-Pavon J, Cuadrado Vives C. Influence of nutritional status on health-related quality of life of non-institutionalized older people. J Nutr Health Aging. 2014;18:359–364. 10.1007/s12603-013-0416-x PubMed PMID: 24676315. - DOI - PubMed

Uncited references

    1. Dent E, Kowal P, Hoogendijk EO. Frailty measurement in research and clinical practice: a review. Eur J Intern Med. 2016;31:3–10. 10.1016/j.ejim.2016.03.007 PubMed PMID: 27039014. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bandeen-Roche K, Seplaki CL, Huang J, Buta B, Kalyani RR, Varadhan R, Xue QL, Walston JD, Kasper JD. Frailty in older adults: a nationally representative profile in the United States. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2015;70:1427–1434. 10.1093/gerona/glv133 PubMed PMID: 26297656, PMCID 4723664. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Soler-Vila H, Garcia-Esquinas E, Leon-Munoz LM, Lopez-Garcia E, Banegas JR, Rodriguez-Artalejo F. Contribution of health behaviours and clinical factors to socioeconomic differences in frailty among older adults. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2016;70:354–360. 10.1136/jech-2015-206406 PubMed PMID: 26567320. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Szanton SL, Seplaki CL, Thorpe R Jr, Allen JK, Fried LP. Socioeconomic status is associated with frailty: the Women’s Health and Aging Studies. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010;64:63–67. 10.1136/jech.2008.078428 PubMed PMID: 19692719, PMCID 2856660. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Woo J, Chan R, Leung J, Wong M. Relative contributions of geographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors to quality of life, frailty, and mortality in elderly. PLoS One. 2010;5:e8775. 10.1371/journal.pone.0008775 PubMed PMID: 20098745, PMCID 2808254. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types