[Food hygiene and the prevalence of diarrhea and vomiting in independent elderly]

Abstract

Food hygiene and the prevalence of diarrhea and vomiting were investigated in a population of self-supporting elderly aged 65 to 80 years. Two hundred and fourteen of them were interviewed at home. During this interview the temperature of the refrigerator and the cellar was measured. The prevalence of diarrhea in the 3 months preceding the interview was 20%, the prevalence of vomiting was 13%. By means of the interview at the respondents' homes and the temperature measurement, food hygiene was evaluated. Seventy percent of the respondents appeared to act in a hazardous way on one or more of the selected items. After excluding those who might have been vomiting or suffering from diarrhea due to certain chronic conditions, a statistically significant association between food hygiene evaluation and diarrhea in the preceding 3 months was found. The 3-month prevalence of the 90 persons with hazardous practices was 22%; in the group of 35 persons without such practices the prevalence was 6%. It is hard to compare these results with those of other studies because of different definitions and different methods. The impression that this age-category is a high risk group for food hygiene cannot be confirmed nor ruled out.