Fatores associados ao estado nutricional de pessoas idosas atendidas na Atenção Primária à Saúde

Abstract

Introduction: In the global assessment of elderly people, nutritional status and associated factors, such as the presence of pain and geriatric depression, can lead to emotional, cognitive, functional and somatic repercussions on the health and quality of life of these people. Objective: to verify the association between sociodemographic, clinical characteristics and health demands with the risk of malnutrition in elderly people cared for in Primary Health Care (PHC) in Natal and Santa Cruz, RN. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, carried out in the period 2017 and 2018, with individuals aged 60 years old treated at Basic Health Units (UBS) in the municipalities of Natal and Santa Cruz. The risk of malnutrition was assessed by the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). The data were analyzed using SPSS software, using Pearson's chi-square test to evaluate the association between the studied variables, considering significance when p<0.05. Results: Of the 100 participants, the risk of malnutrition was more frequent in elderly people aged 65 to 80 years (90%), female (73.3%) and with low education (78.9%), with chronic diseases (80, 0%) and are taking medication (86.7%). An association was found between the risk of malnutrition and depression (64.4%, p=0.001) and the presence of severe pain (42.2%; p=0.008). Conclusion: The risk of malnutrition was associated with depression and the presence of severe pain. Therefore, the importance of monitoring the nutritional status of the elderly population and its associated factors is highlighted, especially in identifying nutritional risk, considering that this deficit can interfere with the functionality and autonomy of the elderly, favoring the worsening of other conditions, which requires rapid identification and intervention with the aim of maintaining their quality of life