title: Weight change, nutritional risk and its determinants among cognitively intact and demented elderly Canadians.
abstract: Nutritional risk and its predictors were assessed by evaluating longitudinal changes in body weight using data collected from elderly community-dwelling and institutionalized Canadians who participated in both phases of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, CSHA (n = 10,263). Change in body weight (% initial weight) was examined over a 5-year interval in 584 community and 237 institutionalized participants, and its predictors tested in multiple and logistic regression analyses. Average weight at CSHA-2 was 97% of initial weight at CSHA-1. Values were lower in those over 90 years and the demented. Increasing frailty in a 7-point scale (beta = -1.23, p = 0.04) predicted weight loss in institutional participants, as did difficulty in eating unaided (beta = 4.24, p < 0.001) and reported loss of interest in life (beta = 2.22, p < 0.001) among community subjects. Some 16% in institutions and 9% in the community were at moderate/severe nutritional risk, disproportionately represented by the oldest subjects and the demented. These analyses support the importance of assessing dietary intakes, anthropometrics, well-being and environmental predictors of aging in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, 4565 Queen Mary, Montreal, QC, H3W 1W5. bryna.shatenstein@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shatenstein
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kergoat
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nadon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss