Body Mass Index, Malnutrition and Quality of Life Among Elderly in Malaysia During Covid-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic had  impact on several elements, including nutrition, as a result of food supply disruptions and  lack of essential materials such as medicines, supplements, healthy foods, and other items, causing elderly to be malnourished, lose weight, or consume unhealthy meals [1]. BMI and malnutrition may have impact on the elderly’s quality of life, however the evidence for this is still weak.   This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the BMI, malnutrition and QoL among elderly in all states in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 169 elderly aged 60 years and above across Malaysia were involved in this study. Those who meet the inclusion criteria which are elderly aged 60 years and above, living in Malaysia (Wilayah Persekutuan, Selangor, Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak) and have good memory was included in this study. All data were obtained through online questionnaire in which the assessment of height and weight were self-reported by the respondents, malnutrition was assessed using Malnutrition Risk Screening Tool-Hospital (MRST-H) and Mini Nutritional Assessment-short form (MNA-SF), meanwhile QoL was assessed using SF-36. Descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the frequencies, averages and percentages of BMI, malnutrition and QoL among the respondents.   Results showed that mean BMI of elderly was 25.54±4.88 kg/m2. Most of elderly had normal BMI (43.8%) as compared to underweight (21.9%) and overweight (34.3%). Next, according to MRST-H, majority of the participants had normal nutritional status (66.9%), meanwhile others (33.1%) were reported to be at risk of malnutrition with the majority of women (39.8%) as compared to men (23.9%). Similar to the MNA-SF, most of the participants had normal nutritional status (65.7%), followed by at risk of malnutrition (30.2%) and the least was malnutrition (4.1%). Overall, the median score for QoL was 61.10 (27.00). Physical role domain and vitality domain had the lowest median score which were 56.25 (40.60) and 56.25 (15.60) respectively. Meanwhile, social functioning was reported to have the highest scores 75.00 (37.50) as compared to other domains. Nutritional status and QoL are the cornerstone of public health in elderly. Therefore, it is important for this study to determine the BMI, malnutrition and QoL to make significant contribution in assisting health-care professionals to combat malnutrition and poor QoL among elderly.