Nutritional status, physical performance and disability in the elderly of the Peruvian Andes.
BACKGROUND
Although nutritional status plays an important part in the physical performance and disability of older people, this relationship has been little studied in developing countries.


OBJECTIVE
A study on the effects of nutritional status on the physical performance and functional status of elderly people living in rural areas of the Peruvian Andes.


METHODS
The study concerned 222 people aged ≥65 years living in a rural area of the Peruvian Andes. The Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used to classify participants as malnourished (MNA <= 17), at risk of malnutrition (MNA 18-23), or well-nourished (MNA>= 24). The short physical performance battery (SPPB) and six-minute walking test (6MWT) were used to measure participants' physical performance. Disabilities were investigated by assessing participants' self-reported difficulty in performing one or more basic activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL).


RESULTS
The prevalence of malnutrition was 9.4 %, and more than half of our samples were at risk of malnutrition. After adjusting for potential confounders, malnourished individuals performed significantly worse than the other MNA groups in the SPPB (p for trend=0.001), 6MWT and IADL (p for trend < 0.0001 for both outcomes), but not in the ADL (p for trend = 0.23). Taking the well-nourished for reference, and after adjusting for potential confounders, malnutrition was significantly associated with disability in IADL (OR 5.36, 95 % CI 1.02-56.94; p = 0.05), and poor performance in the 6MWT (OR 2.73, 95 % CI 1.06-12.08; p = 0.03) and SPPB (OR 4.94, 95 % CI 1.01-24.07; p = 0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
Poor nutritional status was found significantly associated with poor physical performance and poor functional status in elderly Peruvian individuals.
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy.
Alessandra
A
Tramontano
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy. ilmannato@gmail.com.
Nicola
N
Veronese
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy.
Valter
V
Giantin
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy.|National Research Council, Aging Branch, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy.
Enzo
E
Manzato
Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
Diana
D
Rodriguez-Hurtado
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy.
Caterina
C
Trevisan
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy.
Francesca
F
De Zaiacomo
Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy.
Giuseppe
G
Sergi
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology*; D015995:Prevalence
Activities of daily living; Instrumental activities of daily living; Malnutrition; Mini-Nutritional Assessment; Physical performance