Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients usually have dietary problems leading to malnutrition issues. Therefore, this study aimed to determine macro and micronutrient intakes and meal-related sit- uations among outpatients COPD elderly and its adequacy according to their requirements. Methods: 140 patients were included in this cross-sectional study at Respiratory Clinics of Hospital Serdang and Institut Perubatan Respira- tori. Socio-demographic and health status data were collected by interviewing patients and reviewing their medical records. A three-day diet history (two-day on weekdays, one day on weekend) was analysed using Nutritionist Pro and compared against their requirements. Meal-related situation was assessed using three open-ended questions that related to food shopping, cooking and eating and analysed using content analysis. Results: Patients were 70±7 years old, 97% male, 59% Malay, 48% had primary education, 75% married, 72% ex-smokers and 54% presented with comorbidities. Majority of them had no episode of exacerbation for the past one year and in moderate stage of the COPD severity. Mean energy intake was 916±221 kcal/day with 98% of them have under-reported their intake. Almost all patients had inadequate macro and micronutrient intake; energy (97%), protein (97%), carbohydrate (86%), fat (99%), vitamin A (95%), C (86%), D (99%) and E (99%). The meal-related situation reported patients had difficulties with food shopping and preparation and problems during mealtime. Conclusion: COPD elderly reported inadequate intake of macro and micronutrients and had problems during mealtime. This indicates the need for Ma- laysian nutrition guidelines specific to COPD patients and nutrition intervention in the primary setting.
Introduction: The aging population is a matter of global concern. Age-related
physiological, pathological, psychosocial, economic, cultural and environmental
changes are common and may greatly influence the quality of life of the elderly.
The aim of this review was to explore the determinants and motivations that drive
the elderly in making food choices. Methods: The search strategy of this literature
review used the PRISMA protocol. Potential literature that was related to food
choices was identified using two different combinations of keywords and two major
electronic search engines, namely Pubmed and Science Direct. The articles that
were selected for this review had to be in the English language, open-accessed and
published between January 2007 and December 2017. Results: From a search of
1398 articles, 15 articles (seven quantitative and eight qualitative) were identified
that were related to food choices among the elderly. The key factor that determined
food choices among the elderly population was identified to be health. Others
included convenience, sensory appeal, price, early food experience and more. The
limitations of these studies that were reported were the small sample size and the
reliance on self-reporting. The conclusions that were drawn were for specific groups
that were studied in this review should be extrapolated or generalised with caution.
Conclusion: Strategies for intervention programmes should be undertaken in
collaboration with health professionals, researchers, policymakers, and the food
industry. Future research is needed in the elderly who have chronic diseases, are
dependent or who have disabilities.
Introduction: A compromised quality of life (QOL) as a result of haemodialysis
(HD) is a rising global issue. Elderly HD patients face more challenges than
younger counterparts. This study determined the association of socio-demographic
characteristics, nutritional status, risk of malnutrition and depression with QOL,
among elderly HD patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted
among 112 HD elderly patients in selected dialysis centres in Selangor, Malaysia.
The patients completed interview-based questionnaires on socio-demographic
characteristics, risk of malnutrition (Dialysis Malnutrition Score, DMS), depression
(Patient Health Questionaire-9, PHQ-9) and QOL (KDQOL-36). Anthropometric
measurements, 24-hour dietary recall and food intake information were obtained
from them and biochemical data from their medical records. Results: Just over half
(50.9%) of the patients had a normal body mass index while 85.7% had optimal
albumin levels. The proportion of patients who met the recommended energy and
protein intakes were 19.0% and 3.4%, respectively. Patients were at moderate risk
of malnutrition, had minimal depression level and perceived better QOL in terms of
effects and symptoms of kidney disease. There was a significant positive correlation
between protein intake and the physical domain of QOL (p=0.02) and negative
correlation between risk of malnutrition with physical and mental composites of
QOL (p
Introduction: It is widely recognised that health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is
impaired in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Most previous
studies were conducted among the younger adult population and there is limited
information on the elderly population. This study aimed to determine the COPD
assessment test (CAT) score in the elderly with COPD. Methods: This was a crosssectional study involving 140 elderly patients who had been diagnosed with COPD
at two selected government institutions. Data on socio-demographic and health
status were collected by interviewing patients and reviewing their medical records.
The HRQOL was measured using CAT. The independence sample t-test and one-way
ANOVA were conducted to compare the CAT scores with socio-demographic and
health status. Results: The socio-demographic and health characteristics of the
patients were as follows: majority (54%) were aged 60-70 years, male (97%), Malay
(59%), married (75%), ex-smokers (72%), had attained primary education (48%),
had co-morbidities (54%), no history of hospitalisation or visits to the emergency
department due to COPD (57%), and were in moderate stage of airflow obstruction
(53%). The mean of CAT score was 21.87±6.85 and the majority of the patients were
classified as having worst symptoms of COPD (93%) as they had high CAT score
which was ≥ 10. Conclusion: Majority of the patients in this study had high scores
of CAT, which indicated poor HRQOL. Ex-smokers had higher scores compared
to non-smokers. More attention need to be given to these subgroups in order to
increase their quality of life.
Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) is an important data in managing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Therefore, it is essential to determine factors that associated with HRQOL and identify the gaps for future research. A systematic search using PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus was performed to discover factors that could impact HRQOL among COPD patients. Socio-demographic factors like age, gender, educational level, smoking status, income were found associated with HRQOL. Other factors included Body Mass Index (BMI), comorbidities, sleep quality and exercise capability also could influence HRQOL of COPD patients. Other than that, lung function, dyspnea and exacerbation also found closely related with HRQOL. However, future study is needed to explore more factors such as nutritional status. Besides that, the finding only focused on general population and very little infor- mation on elderly population.
Introduction: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is one of the main indicators of health and wellbeing among dialysis patients which has attracted mounting interest in recent years in the initiation of intervention measures. Thus, this study aimed to determine the correlations between socio-demographic factors and medical characteristics with HRQOL among elderly on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in nine HD centers in Selangor. Socio-demographic data and HRQOL were assessed using structured questionnaire and Kidney Disease Quality of Life Instrument (KDQOL-36), respectively whilst medical profile and laboratory data were collected from subjects’ medical record. Results: The mean age of subjects was 67±6 years where majority (57%) of the subjects was on maintenance HD for less than 5 years. The mean physical component summary and mental com- ponent summary scores were 33.89±11.83 and 50.23±8.88, respectively. Symptoms/problems subscale, effects of kidney disease on daily life subscale and burden of kidney disease subscale scores were 73.37±17.01, 72.63±19.74 and 54.62±30.42, respectively. There was a significant correlation between serum sodium with physical component summary (r=0.237, p