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Screening for Nutritional Risk Among Community-dwelling Elderly on Prince Edward Island

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Abstract

The purpose of this survey was to estimate the prevalence of nutritional risk among a group of community-dwelling older persons on Prince Edward Island, aged 70 years and over, and to examine the relationships between health-related factors and nutritional risk. Subjects (n=215) were interviewed as part of the 1996 Canadian Study of Health and Aging. The prevalence of nutritional risk, as measured by the DETERMINE checklist, in PEI seniors was 37.1% (95% CI=36.3, 37.9). The prevalence was estimated at 47% after adjusting for the sensitivity and specificity of the checklist. Only pain was a significant predictor of the presence or absence of nutritional risk (logistic regression, p=0.05). The only predictor to discriminate between the three categories of no nutritional risk, moderate risk, and high risk was depression (Kruskal-Wallis, p=0.035). Several limitations were identified with the use of the DETERMINE checklist.

Résumé

L’objectif de ce sondage était d’estimer la prévalence des risques associés à la nutrition chez un groupe de personnes âgées de 70 ans et plus qui résident dans la communauté, à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, et d’examiner le lien qui existe entre certains facteurs de santé et les risques associés à la nutrition. Les sujets (n=215) ont été questionnés comme partie de l’Étude sur la santé et le vieillissement au Canada. La prévalence des risques associés à la nutrition chez les personnes âgées de l’Î.-P.-É., telle que mesurée à l’aide de la liste de contrôle DETERMINE, était de 37,1 % (95 % IC=36,3–37,9). Seule la douleur a été un prédicteur important de la présence ou de l’absence de risques associés à la nutrition (régression logistique, p=0,05). Le seul pré-dicteur permettant une discrimination entre les trois catégories (pas de risques associés à la nutrition, risques modérés et risques élevés) était la dépression (test de Kruskal-Wallis, p=0,035). On a dénombré plusieurs restrictions associées à l’usage de la liste de contrôle DETERMINE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Ave, Charlottetown, PEI, C1A 4P3, Canada

    Debbie L. MacLellan MSc

  2. Epidemiology Unit, Department of Health and Social Services, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

    Linda D. Van Til DVM, MSc

Authors
  1. Debbie L. MacLellan MSc
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  2. Linda D. Van Til DVM, MSc
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Correspondence to Debbie L. MacLellan MSc.

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MacLellan, D.L., Van Til, L.D. Screening for Nutritional Risk Among Community-dwelling Elderly on Prince Edward Island. Can J Public Health 89, 342–346 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404488

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404488

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