Chronic energy deficiency and associated factors among older population in Ethiopia: A community based study

Chronic energy deficiency is an important public health problem among older (aged ≥ 65 years) population. Globally, one in seven older people has a medium to high risk of malnutrition. The situation of chronic energy deficiency among older people is quite poorly known in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the magnitude of chronic energy deficiency and associated factors among elders' aged ≥ 65 years, in Aykel town administration, Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia.

A community based cross-sectional survey was carried out from March 28th to April 20th, 2018. Study participants were recruited by a census technique. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis used to identify factors associated with chronic energy deficiency. All variables with p-values of < 0.2 in the bivariate analysis were remarked for the multivariable analysis. Both Crude Odds Ratio (COR) and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) were computed to determine the strength of association. In the multivariate analysis, all variables at p-values of < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.

A total of 892 participants recruited for the study. The prevalence of chronic energy deficiency was 17.6% (95%CI: 15.00, 20.20) among the study community. It was significantly associated with female sex (AOR: 1.58; 95%CI: 1.04, 2.41), age (AOR: 3.90; 95%CI: 1.85, 8.25), household food insecurity (AOR: 1.95; 95%CI: 1.16, 3.00), poor household wealth status (AOR: 1.77; 95%CI: 1.07, 2.94), loss of appetite due to illness (AOR: 2.93, 95%CI: 1.92, 4.48) and poor dietary diversity score (AOR: 5.51; 95%CI: 2.89, 10.52).

The magnitude of chronic energy deficiency was high in the study area. It was significantly associated with female sex, age, poor dietary diversity score, loss of appetite due to illness, household food insecurity and poor wealth status. Therefore, there is a need to design and implement programs and strategies to improve nutritional status particularly focusing on female older population in improving dietary practices and food security. In addition, improving household economic and living standards is an essential measure to address the burden of CED among the older community.