1 in 4 elderly persons suffers from malnutrition

One in every four elderly people, aged 60 and above, are suffering from malnutrition, and over half of all elderly people are at risk of developing malnutrition, revealed a study.

The prevalence of malnutrition among elderly women is higher (28.8 percent) than men (22 percent), stated the research, conducted by the Public Health and Informatics (PHI) department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

The study, which was conducted on 125 elderly people from three villages of Dhaka's Uttarkhan neighbourhood, found that 65.3 percent of the population are at risk of malnutrition.

The data was collected during October and November of 2019, while research findings were shared at a programme on BSMMU campus on Thursday.

Researchers said there are around 1.5 crore elderly people in the country, but arrangements to ensure preventive healthcare for them is falling short.

The main reasons behind malnutrition among elders are depression; underlying oral and dental health conditions; avoidance of food like meat, milk and eggs; and prevalence of non-communicable diseases.

"The target population in our study was mainly from insolvent families... So a suitable nutrition programme is needed for them," Dr KM Thouhidur Rahman, lead investigator of the study and scientific coordinator of PHI department, told The Daily Star.

STUDIES ON ARTHRITIS, PALLIATIVE CARE

The study conducted by BSMMU's Internal Medicine and Rheumatology department revealed that more than half (52 percent) of all elderly people living in the country's rural areas are suffering from arthritis pain, while half were found to be suffering from moderate disability.

This aging-related disease is more prevalent among women (56.6 percent) than men (43.4 percent), according to the study, conducted on 380 people of Dhaka's Dohar upazila from April 2017 to March 2018.

"The main problem is that if arthritis pain is not addressed at an early stage, it causes disability among elders. Despite a large number of elders suffering from this problem, there is no proper treatment arrangement," said Dr Moinul Hassan, lead investigator of the study.

He said, "If  health staffers working at grassroots, like community healthcare providers, were trained, they could have referred people to tertiary hospitals."

Another study conducted by

Palliative Medicine department revealed that most patients at the terminal stage of their illness were aged between 50 and 80 years.

Of the total participants, 60 percent were cancer patients, and 62 percent asked for home-based palliative care after being referred by their physicians.