PREVALENCE OF UNDER NUTRITION AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PEOPLE OF OLD AGE IN DEBRE MARKOS TOWN, NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA, 2015

Background: Malnutrition is defined as a disproportion of nutrients caused by either an excess intake of nutrients or a nutritional deficit. One of the most common nutritional problems in older people (aged 60 years and over) is under nutrition. Worldwide studies revealed that the prevalence of under nutrition in people of old age is high. Objective: To assess the prevalence of under nutrition and its associated factors among old people in Debre Markos town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2015. Methods and materials: A cross sectional study design was conducted among 423 study subjects of old age in Debre Markos town from August 4 to August 30, 2015. Primary data was collected using a pre tested Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) screening tool and structured questionnaires by trained data collectors. The data that was collected was entered and cleaned using EpiData version 3.1 statistical software then exported to the SPSS version 20 statistical package for further data analysis. Descriptive statistics of frequency, tables and graphs were used and summary measures were calculated to determine the prevalence of under nutrition. The data was also used to describe the distribution of the independent variables among study subjects. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to calculate crude and adjusted odds ratios in order to identify factors associated with under nutrition of study participants at 0.05 level of significance. Result: The prevalence of under nutrition among study participants was found to be 22.7% (95%CI 18.7-26.7). A number of independent variables have a significant association with under nutrition, including gender (females (AOR 7.95 95% CI (2.86, 22.08)), age (Oldest Old and Middle Old, (AOR=3.45 95%CI (1.44, 8.26) and (AOR=5.25, 95%CI (2.48, 11.13) respectively), marital status (widowed elderly individuals (ARO 3.29 95 % CI (1.54, 7.06)), individuals with eating difficulty (AOR 10.73 95 % CI (4.49, 25.63), individuals with vision problems (AOR 5.67 95 % CI (2.80, 11.48) and meal frequency (ARO 6.71 95 % CI (3.31, 13.63). Conclusion and recommendation: Prevalence of under nutrition among study participants was 22.7%. Gender, age, marital status, eating difficulty, visual problems and meal frequency were found to be independent determinant factors of under nutrition among study subjects. The government, family members and other stakeholders should give more attention to older individuals especially older females.