PREVALENCIA DEL RIESGO DE DESNUTRICION ASOCIADA A DEPRESION EN EL ADULTO MAYOR EN LA ZONA URBANA DEL CANTON CUENCA, NOVIEMBRE 2021-ABRIL2022

Abstract

Background: the elderly are at risk of presenting pathologies such as malnutrition and depression. Its early detection can prevent health complications in this population group. Objective: to determine the prevalence of the risk of malnutrition and its relationship with depression, in the elderly in the urban area of the Cuenca canton, November 2021 - April2022. Methods: cross-sectional analytical study, which included 350 older adults from the urban area of Cuenca. Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment and the presence of depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale. Data were tabulated in the free SPSS Version 21program. For the analysis, descriptive statistics were used such as frequency, percentage, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion (standard deviation) and for association: prevalence ratio (PR), with Confidence interval (CI) of 95%, and Chi Square Pearson's for statistical significance, with its value p < 0.05. Results: the prevalence of malnutrition risk was 36%. The prevalence of malnutrition was 8.86%. The most prevalent group was 65 to 74 years old (54.86%). The risk of malnutrition and malnutrition were significantly associated with age, marital status, and educational level (p < 0.001). In addition, there is a strong association between the risk of malnutrition and depression, the PR of 7.293 (95% CI 4.678 - 11.369, p <0.001). Conclusions: the prevalence of malnutrition risk was 36% and was associated with age, marital status, educational level and depression.