Health and Nutrition Status of Elderly People with Multimorbidity: A Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013~2015)

15, 2020 ABSTRACT Objectives: This study investigated the health and nutritional status of the elderly according to the number of chronic diseases, using data obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013~2015. Methods: Data from a total of 2,310 individuals, aged 65 years and over, were used for the analysis. The elders were divided into 0 (n=375), 1 (n=673), 2 (n=637) and 3 or more (n=625) groups, by considering the number of chronic diseases. Results: Compared to other groups, the elderly subjects who were living with their spouse had the highest ratio in group 0 ( P < 0.05), whereas subjects without economic activities had highest ratio in 3 or more group ( P < 0.05). The EQ-5D index of subjects in the 0 group (0.90 ± 0.01) was higher than that in the 3 or more group (0.86 ± 0.01) ( P < 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors, the energy intake of subjects was determined to be lowest in the 3 or more group ( P < 0.05). Protein ( P < 0.05) and riboflavin ( P < 0.05) intakes of the 3 or more group were also lower than other groups. Conclusions: This study indicates that multimorbidity of the elderly is associated with their health and nutritional status. The nutrients intake of the elderly, especially energy, protein and riboflavin, tended to be lowest in the 3 or more group. Further research is required to elucidate the risk factors related to presence of multimorbidity in J 25(6):