Relationship between depression and risk of malnutrition among community-dwelling young-old and old-old elderly people

Objectives: This study explores the association between nutritional status and depression among healthy community-dwelling young-old (aged 65–74) and old-old elderly (aged 75 and older).

Method: A cross-sectional design was implemented. A total of 274 community-dwelling older individuals (142 young-old; 132 old-old) were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) and Life-Space Assessment. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine if depression was independently associated with risk of malnutrition, stratified by age (young-old vs. old-old).

Results: In the logistic regression model for young-old, being at risk of malnutrition (MNA-SF (≦11) was strongly associated with depression (GDS (≧5;) (likelihood ratio ν?=?6.26; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.91–20.49). In contrast, in the old-old group, the model was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Depression and nutritional status were strongly correlated in young-old but not in old-old community-dwelling elderly. This study reveals that not only the factors correlated with but also the symptoms of depression may vary among different age stratifications of the elderly.