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Introduction: Malnutrition is common among elderly and it can cause problems such as muscle wasting, impaired immune system, impaired wound healing and increased mortality. Objective of this study was to determine associations between socio-demographic background, sleep quality, physical activity level and perceived social support with malnutrition risk among elderly in RSK Cheras.
Method: This was a cross-sectional study among elderly in Rumah Seri Kenangan (RSK) Cheras. A purposive sampling was used to select the RSK and 90 subjects aged >60 years were recruited for the study. Malnutrition risk was measured using the full Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), socio-demographic background using self-developed questionnaire, sleep quality using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Physical activity using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and perceived social support using Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS).
Results: Approximately, 25.5% of the subjects were in malnutrition risk (14.4% at risk for malnutrition and 11.1% were malnourished respectively). There were significant positive correlations between sleep quality, physical activity, and perceived social support with malnutrition risk. However, the finding showed socio-demographic backgrounds was not associated with malnutrition risk.
Conclusion: Proportion of the elderly who are malnourished and at risk of malnutrition is higher in RSK Cheras. Factors associated with malnutrition risk among elderly in RSK Cheras are poor sleep quality, low physical activity level and lack of perceived social support.
Keyword: elderly, malnutrition