Malnutrition in all its forms and associated factors affecting the nutritional status of adult rural population in Bangladesh: results from a cross-sectional survey

Predictors of malnutrition among older residents in Qatari long-term care facilities: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition is a prevalent issue among older adults in long-term care facilities and is associated with adverse health outcomes and increased healthcare costs. Identifying the predictors of malnutrition in this population is crucial for developing effective intervention strategies. This study aimed to explore the factors contributing to malnourishment among older individuals living in long-term care facilities in Qatar.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 75 older adults from two long-term care facilities (Rumailah Hospital and Enaya Specialized Care Center) in Qatar. Baseline characteristics, including age, sex, length of stay, mortality, weight, body mass index, co-morbidities, and laboratory parameters, were assessed. Data were analyzed using the most recent version of the SPSS software, version 29. Predictors of malnutrition and mortality were identified using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 75 older individuals included in the study, 85% (64) were malnourished. The average age of the participants was 74.89 years, with a standard deviation of 10.21. Of all participants, approximately 61% (46) were males, and 39% (29) were females. Most malnourished older adults were classified as either at "moderate (29.69%)" or "severe risk (37.50%)," according to the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index. Malnourished participants experienced a significant percentage of weight change within 3 months (14.01 ± 7.89); the only statistically significant predictor of malnutrition was the percentage of weight change within 3 months with an odds ratio (OR) of 4.8 (confidence interval [CI] 1.56-14.75) and p-value of 0.006. Statistically significant predictors of mortality were malnutrition (OR 24.84, CI 1.09-564) and age (OR 1.07, CI 1.00-1.14).

CONCLUSIONS

A significant predictor of malnutrition in older adults identified in this study was the sudden and recent change in weight, which can be employed to detect individuals at risk early and guide tailored interventions. Malnutrition is a significant predictor of mortality. Employing a multidimensional strategy to tackle malnutrition can improve outcomes for the older individuals.

Self-reported prevalence of asthma and its associated factors among adult rural population in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study using WHO PEN protocol

OBJECTIVE

For over a decade, the prevalence of asthma remained unchanged at around 7% in Bangladesh. Although asthma causes significant morbidity among both children and adults, updates on epidemiological data are limited on the prevalence in Bangladesh. This study attempted to determine the prevalence of asthma, and its modifiable and non-modifiable lifestyle predictors in a rural population of Bangladesh.

METHOD

This study was part of a cross-sectional study that applied the WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions via census in a rural area of Bangladesh, where self-reported data on asthma were recorded. Data on anthropometric measurement, sociodemographic characteristics and behavioural risk factors were collected following the standard protocol described in the WHO STEP-wise approach to surveillance (STEPS) questionnaire. Analysis included descriptive statistics to assess the prevalence of asthma and its risk factors, and binary logistic regression to determine contributing factors.

RESULT

The overall prevalence of asthma was 4.2%. Asthma was predominant among people above 60 years (8.4%). Higher asthma was noted among males (4.6%), self-employed (5.1%), with a family history of asthma (9.1%), with comorbidities besides asthma (7.8%) and underweight (6.0%) compared with their counterparts. The OR of having asthma was 1.89, 1.93, 1.32, 1.50, 2.60, 0.67, 0.67 and 0.78 if a respondent was 45 years old or more, married, underweight, ever smoker, with a family history of asthma, housewife, employed and consumed red meat, respectively, while considering all other variables constant, compared with their counterparts.

CONCLUSION

The study emphasised asthma to be a public health concern in Bangladesh, although it seems to have decreased over the last decade. Among others, red meat intake and nutritional status were strongly associated with asthma, and the linkage among these is still a grey area that needs further exploration.

Baseline prevalence of hyperglycemia and its predictors among community clinic users of a selected rural area of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study using the WHO PEN Protocol 1

AIMS/INTRODUCTION

Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of hyperglycemia at baseline, and identify its predictors among community clinic (CC) users from a selected rural area of Bangladesh.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study partly used the baseline data of implementation research in which a total of 11,244 adults visited the CC, and their blood glucose, blood pressure and anthropometry were evaluated according to 'Action 2' of the World Health Organization (WHO) Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions (PEN) protocol 1. Of these, 11,144 had complete information on demography, chronic diseases and their risk factors, which were collected during the implementation of 'Action 1' of WHO PEN protocol 1 at the household level. Hyperglycemia, prediabetes (PreD) and type 2 diabetes were diagnosed using the WHO criteria.

RESULTS

Using WHO PEN protocol 1, the estimated baseline prevalence was 12.5% for hyperglycemia, 3.4% for PreD and 9.2% for type 2 diabetes, and was more prevalent among men compared with women. PreD and type 2 diabetes had significantly higher odds ratio (OR >1) of having common risk factors as follows: age ≥40 years (PreD, P < 0.001; type 2 diabetes, P < 0.001), generalized obesity (PreD, P < 0.001; type 2 diabetes, P = 0.005) and hypertension (PreD, P < 0.000; type 2 diabetes, P < 0.001). Furthermore, participants with a family history of diabetes appeared to be a significant predictor of type 2 diabetes (P < 0.001), but not for PreD (P = 0.303).

CONCLUSIONS

Hyperglycemia, preD and type 2 diabetes showed a comparatively high prevalence among the CC users of the selected rural area. Obesity and hypertension are the key modifiable risk factors that should be reduced using a CC-centered risk reduction strategy.