Nutritional assessment of older adults with diabetes mellitus.

Aims: We aimed to screen the nutritional status of older adults with diabetes mellitus, seeking to outline the needs of this population group considering their socioeconomic status.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of 246 diabetic people aged 65-94 years in Northeastern Brazil. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect sociodemographic, general health and lifestyle data. The Mini Nutritional Assessment was used to screen nutritional status.

Results: Participants' mean age was 73 ± 6.4 years, and there was a predominance of women (56.5%). The mean duration of diabetes was 14.1 years (±9.6 years). Patients aged 80 years or older presented a 3.7-fold higher risk of malnutrition (p < 0.001), and those who were uneducated exhibited a 5.8-fold higher risk of malnutrition (p = 0.040). Patients with BMI of 18.6-24.9 km/m presented a 2.2-fold higher risk of malnutrition than overweight or obese patients (p < 0.001). Nutritional status was significantly associated with coronary artery disease (p = 0.010) and stroke (p < 0.001). Malnourished patients exhibited a 2.2-fold higher occurrence of infection in the past 6 months (p = 0.017) and 2-fold higher occurrence of foot injuries (p = 0.028) than their well-nourished peers.

Conclusion: Malnutrition in older diabetic patients exacerbates underlying diseases and contributes to unfavorable prognosis, particularly in the oldest old and in individuals with low levels of education.