Elderly Patients at Risk of Malnutrition Presenting to a Tertiary Hospital in Nepal: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: The nutritional status of elderly people is crucial for healthy aging, enabling them to maintain productive lives and reduce the progression of chronic diseases. Given that the quality of life tends to decline with age, it becomes particularly crucial for elderly individuals. Therefore, this study was aimed to find out the prevalence of elderly patients at risk of malnutrition in a tertiary hospital.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 281 elderly patients in a tertiary hospital from 2 January 2023 to 10 February 2023 after obtaining ethical approval. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used. A face-to-face interview was conducted using a structured interview schedule with the elderly in the absence of their caregiver using a standard Mini-Nutritional Assessment tool for nutritional status, and WHOQOL_OLD quality of life for the elderly to assess the quality of life. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated.

Results: Out of 281 elderly patients enrolled in our study, 164 (58.36%) (52.64-64.16, 95% Confidence Interval) were at risk of malnutrition.

Conclusions: The study concluded that older people could be at risk of malnutrition, which could impair their quality of life.