[Association between malnutrition and depression in elderly]

Malnutrition and depression are common geriatric disorders. The aim of this study was determined the prevalence of malnutrition and depression in the elderly, as well as assess the association between depression and malnutrition.

A cross-sectional study was done with elderly of external consult in a Public Specialized Hospital of México City. The nutritional status was classified by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Quetelet's Index was categorized according to The World Health Organization. Depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The functional autonomy indicators were obtained by Katz Index. Differences between groups were analyzed using the Chisquare test and t-test. The associations between the MNA and GDS and determination of risk factors for malnutrition were analyzed using multivariate analysis and the odds ratio (OR) estimates were determined.

96 patients were included, 79.2 female; 15.5% were classified as adequate nutritional status, 72.2% were classified as being at risk of malnutrition and 11.3% as malnourished. The prevalence of depression was reported by 63.9%. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that depression and male sex are independent predictors of malnutrition. Depression was positively associated with the risk of malnutrition OR 2.4 (95% CI 0.79-7.38). For individuals male the OR for malnutrition was 1.42 (95% CI 1.0-2.0).

Depression and male sex was associated with the risk of malnutrition in the elderly.