title: Malnutrition and depression among community-dwelling elderly people.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study had the objective of analyzing the association between nutritional deficit and the presence of depression among community-dwelling elderly people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population of elderly people living in one district of a city in southern Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 267 individuals aged 60 to 74 years who did not present any significant functional incapacity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nutritional deficit was considered to be present if the individuals were classified as malnourished or at nutritional risk by means of the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Depression was identified as regular use of antidepressives or scores higher than 5 points on the Geriatric Depression Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of the elderly individuals were female (59.9%). Nutritional deficit was identified in 58 elderly people (21.7%) and depression in 65 (24.3%). Nutritional deficit presented a significant association with depression, even after adjusting for control variables such as low schooling, low socioeconomic level, and smoking (OR = 4.38; 95% CI: 2.23-8.64; P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that there was an independent association between nutritional deficit and depression in this population of elderly people, which emphasizes the importance of early identification of depression among individuals with nutritional disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, State University of Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil. marcoscabrera@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Marcos Aparecido Sarria
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.forename: Arthur Eumann
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Mesas
authors.forename: André Ricardo Lopes
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Selma Maffei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: de Andrade
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors