Abstract
ABSTRACT
AIM: This study was conducted to assess the influence of income, loneliness and loss of teeth on the nutritional status of the elderly inpatients in a tertiary hospital. In old age, inappropriate dietary intake contributes significantly to both chronic and acute morbidity, and illness affects food intake and further compromises resistance to diseases.

MATERIALS/METHODS: A cross sectional design was used for the study. Systematic random sampling technique was adopted until the minimum sample size of 412 was attained. A pre-tested 20 item questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Chi square was used to determine the influences of various determinants at significant level of 0.05.

RESULTS: There was a significant association [X2=28.059; p=0.014] between nutritional status and number of people staying with respondents most of the time. In our setting, there is no gainsaying the fact that the traditional aspect of the elderly desiring to have people around them is still a desirous social norm.

CONCLUSION: The elderly may have adapted to the various degrees of loss of teeth they are fraught with, since there was no significant association between tooth loss and nutritional status of the elderly.


Key Words: Nutritional Status, Elderly