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Nutritional status, physical performance and disability in the elderly of the Peruvian Andes

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Abstract

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.

Aims

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).

Conclusion

Poor nutritional status was found significantly associated with poor physical performance and poor functional status in elderly Peruvian individuals.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our study participants.

Authors’ contributions

Sergi, Manzato, Giantin, Rodriguez Hurtado, Veronese, Tramontano were involved in conception and design. Tramontano collected data. Veronese, Sergi, Tramontano, De Zaiacomo, Trevisan were involved in data analysis and interpretation. Veronese, Sergi, Giantin, Tramontano initially drafted the manuscript. Veronese, Manzato, Giantin, Sergi, De Zaiacomo, Trevisan critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. Veronese, Sergi, Tramontano were involved in statistical analysis. All the authors have contributed to the manuscript, read it, approved the final version and gave permission for their name to be included as co-author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128, Padova, Italy

    Alessandra Tramontano, Nicola Veronese, Valter Giantin, Enzo Manzato, Caterina Trevisan, Francesca De Zaiacomo & Giuseppe Sergi

  2. National Research Council, Aging Branch, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy

    Enzo Manzato

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru

    Diana Rodriguez-Hurtado

Authors
  1. Alessandra Tramontano
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  2. Nicola Veronese
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  3. Valter Giantin
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  4. Enzo Manzato
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  5. Diana Rodriguez-Hurtado
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  6. Caterina Trevisan
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  7. Francesca De Zaiacomo
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  8. Giuseppe Sergi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Veronese.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Informed consent

All participants were fully informed about the purposes of the study and gave their informed consent.

Statement of human and animal rights

All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Tramontano, A., Veronese, N., Giantin, V. et al. Nutritional status, physical performance and disability in the elderly of the Peruvian Andes. Aging Clin Exp Res 28, 1195–1201 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-016-0591-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-016-0591-9

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