[Loneliness is associated with the risk of low nutrition in elderly diabetic patients]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between loneliness and malnutrition in elderly diabetic patients.

The subjects were diabetic patients ≥65 years old who were outpatients at Ise Red Cross Hospital. The nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF), and patients were defined as being undernourished if their total score was <11 points. Loneliness was assessed using the Japanese version of the short form of the loneliness scale, a self-administered questionnaire, and a total score of ≥6 was considered to indicate loneliness. A logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio of loneliness to undernutrition, with the dependent variable being undernutrition, the explanatory variable being loneliness, and the adjustment variable being loneliness.

A total of 163 patients were included in the analysis of this study. Of these, 25.8% were lonely, and 33.7% were undernourished. The unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios of loneliness to undernutrition were 2.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-5.27; P=0.011) and 3.81 (95% CI, 1.27-11.39; P=0.017), respectively.

Loneliness is associated with a low nutritional status in elderly diabetic patients. It is important to alert diabetic patients with loneliness to their low nutritional status when they are diagnosed.