Use of NSI Determine Checklist to assess the risk of malnutrition in persons of advanced old age living in rural areas

Purpose: The study has two aims. One was to assess the prevalence of malnutrition risk factors among persons of advanced old age living in rural areas. The second was to assess an aggregate assessment of malnutrition risk in this group using the NSI Determine Checklist. Material and methods: Questionnaire surveys were carried out among a random-quota sample of 253 people over 75 years of age (175 women and 78 men), living in the rural part of Sokółka municipality in the Podlaskie Province, Poland. Results: 78.2% of the study group were at increased risk of malnutrition (50.8% at high risk; 27.4% at moderate). The most common risk factors included multi-drug therapy (63.6%), problems within the oral cavity or problems with teeth interfering with food intake (59.9%), eating alone (45.8%), difficulty doing shopping and preparing meals, and independent consumption (43.5%). Significantly more men than women admitted to drinking three or more glasses of alcohol daily (11.7% vs. 0.6%). More women admitted to eating alone (56.6% vs. 21.8%) and taking at least three medications daily (68.6% vs. 52.6%). Persons over 80 (57.7% of the study group) were significantly more likely than younger respondents to have problems with oral health (65.5% vs.52.3%), as well as difficulty doing food shopping, preparing meals, or eating them independently (50.0% vs. 34.6%). Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition risk factors among persons of advanced old age in rural areas is high, and as a result, aggregately assessed high risk of malnutrition affects as many as half of them. Introduction of relevant screening methods would help address this underestimated clinical problem and facilitate early nutritional intervention