Nutritional assessment and associated factors in the elderly: a population-based cross-sectional study

•Of the participants aged 65 to 74 y who were interviewed, 48.4% were at nutritional risk.•Lack of complete oral rehabilitation was associated with nutritional risk.•Lack of access to the dentist were associated to higher nutrition risk. The aim of this study was to assess nutritional status and associated factors in elderly individuals. This cross-sectional study was conducted in residential homes with a probabilistic cluster sample. Two-hundred eighty-seven individuals 65–74 y of age were interviewed and examined in the city of Cruz Alta, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the socioeconomic, behavioral, and general health conditions; the number of present teeth were counted. Nutrition was assessed with a validated instrument—the Mini Nutritional Assessment—which classifies the patient as normal (eutrophic), at nutritional risk, or malnourished. For data analysis, the participants were categorized in eutrophic or at nutritional risk (at risk of malnutrition + malnourished). The associations were assessed by either the χ2 or Mann–Whitney tests. Uni- and multivariate Poisson regression analyses verified the associations. The significance level was set at 5%. The prevalence of nutritional risk was 48.4%. In the multivariate model, edentulous individuals with no complete denture or with only one complete denture (prevalence ratio PR, 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18–2.13) and elderly individuals with no access to the dentist (PR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.11–1.88) presented higher potential for nutritional risk than their respective controls. The results showed that approximately half of the participants (48.4%) were at nutritional risk. The lack of complete or partial rehabilitation of edentulous patients and the lack of access to the dentist were associated with higher nutrition risk.