Body image satisfaction, nutritional status, anthropometric indicators and quality of life among the elderly

The Effect of Sun Light Exposure to the Level of Vitamin D in Elderly People Living in Nursing Home

BACKGROUND

Elderly people are considered to be in the risk group for vitamin D deficiency. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of nursing interventions and sunlight exposure to reach optimum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels by individuals living in nursing homes.

METHODOLOGY

Randomized controlled experimental study was carried out in June-August 2018 period in the nursing home. The question form, standardized mini mental test, Fitzpatrick skin typing questionnaire and Katz Index of activities of daily living were applied. Individuals in the intervention group (n=20) was exposed to sunlight five days a week for four weeks in July with an average duration of 21 ± 5 minutes (min 15 - max 30 minutes). For the participants in the control group (n=20), sunbathing was not offered. 25(OH)D, calcium, parathormone, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase and albumin levels of all individuals were measured at the beginning and end of the study.

RESULTS

At the end of the study, the 25(OH)D was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (8.06 ng/ml and 0.96 ng/ml, respectively; p = 0.008). It was observed that in the intervention group, sunlight exposure increased the 25(OH)D regardless of gender and age. Increases were observed in intervention groups for calcium and albumin levels. At the beginning of the study, 25(OH)D was sufficient only in five elderly people in the intervention group, while at the end, 11 elderly people had sufficient levels of 25(OH)D.

CONCLUSION

At the end of the study, it was concluded that sunlight exposure was a sufficient source to increase 25(OH)D in most elderly people living in the nursing home. Organizing sunbathing sessions as an independent nursing intervention is recommended for the elderly people living in nursing homes in order to prevent vitamin D deficiency and related consequences.

Body image, nutritional status and quality of life in long-lived older adults

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the body image and nutritional status (NS) of older adults aged 80 and over and its relation with quality of life (QoL). Method: A cross-sectional, quantitative study, with no intervention, using non-probabilistic sampling, was conducted from October 2016 to September 2017 with 103 older individuals aged ≥80 years old from the state of São Paulo. NS was evaluated according to OPAS/SABE; body image was evaluated by the Kakeshita fifteen silhouette scale, and the WHOQoL-bref and WHOQoL-old were used to measure QoL. The Chi-square test was used to verify the association between the studied variables and sex. To compare QoL with nutritional status and body image, the ANOVA Factor test was used. The level of significance was 5% (p<0.05). Results: The majority of the interviewees were female (69.2%) and the average age was 82.75 (±2.98). When comparing the perception of QoL with NS, there was a significant difference (p=0.027) in the self-evaluation of QoL of obese older adults only. The QoL related to body image of both sexes presented a significant difference (p=0.020) in the environmental domain of the WHOQoL-bref in the evaluation of body satisfaction. Conclusion: The body image distortion identified by these older adults did not interfere with their perception of QoL. However, when NS was considered, overweight older adults had a higher perception of QoL.