Association between self-evaluation of nutritional intake, actual intake, and nutritional status of the community-dwelling elderly people

Abstract

　We hypothesized self-evaluation of nutritional intakes was one of the relevant factors of malnutrition among the elderly, and aimed to evaluate validity of self-evaluation of dietary intakes and examine an association between self-evaluation and nutritional status. The self-administered questionnaires on dietary intakes were conducted with the community-dwelling elderly people in Japan. Among those, 36 people who were aged above 65 years-old and completed the questionnaires were included in the study. We compared self-evaluation of dietary intakes with actual intakes estimated by Food Frequency Questionnaire based on Food Group to see the concordance, and analyzed associations between self-evaluation, actual intakes, and nutritional status by using Fishers exact test and multiple logistic regression analysis (OR=95%CI). The results showed that the mean of concordance rates was below 60%, and that those who evaluated protein and carbohydrate intakes as within normal range were more likely to be at risk of malnutrition (p＜0.05). A multiple logistic regression analysis also showed that self-evaluation of protein intake was associated with risk of malnutrition (OR=11.69, 95%CI; 1.11-123.40, p＜0.05). The study concluded that the validity of self-evaluation of dietary intakes was low, and the discrepancy between self-evaluation and actual intakes could be one of the causes of malnutrition, especially among the elderly. We suggest that the benchmark of malnutrition for the elderly and the information of proper intakes should be provided through every possible opportunity including Specific Health-Checkup and Specific Health Guidance.