[Study on the nutritional risk of autonomous non-institutionalized adult elder people]

To assess the nutritional status of autonomous, non-institutionalized, elder adults in social centers by means of the MNA scale and to analyze their distribution according to socio-demographical variables: gender, age, civil status, living with other people, educational level, and rural/urban setting.

Cross-sectional study performed in 660 autonomous, non-institutionalized elder adults in social center of the province of Valencia. The subjects were assessed at 12 social centers selected though stratified sample sets. The inclusion criteria were: being 65 years of older, living at home, having functional autonomy, residing for more than one year in the province of Valencia, attending periodically the social center, and willing to participate. The MNA scale was used for nutritional assessment.

Of the 660 included subjects, 48.33% were males and 51.6% females; the mean age was 74.3 ± 6.57 years. 23.3% of the participants were at risk for malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition odds ratio was higher in: females as compared to men (OR = 1.43), subjects ≥ 85 years as compared to the 65-69 years group (OR = 2.27), widowed subjects as compared to those with a stable companion (OR = 1.82) and people with the lowest educational level as compared to those with some educational level (OR = 1.73).

The prevalence of malnutrition risk in autonomous, non-institutionalized elder adults at social centers of the province of Valencia reaches one out of four people, being higher in widowed subjects (mostly elder women living alone) and in uneducated people.