Factors associated with (risk of) undernutrition in communitydwelling older adults receiving home care: a cross-sectional study in the Netherlands: Public Health Nutrition

Objective: It is generally thought that causes of undernutrition are multifactorial, but there are limited quantitative studies performed. We therefore examined a wide range of potential factors associated with undernutrition in communitydwelling older adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Community-dwelling older adults (>= 65 years) receiving home care in the Netherlands. Subjects: Data on potential factors associated with (risk of) undernutrition were collected among 300 older adults. Nutritional status was assessed by the SNAQ(65+) instrument. Undernutrition was defined as mid-upper arm circumference = 4 kg in 6 months. Being at risk of undernutrition was defined as having poor appetite and inability to walk up and down stairs of fifteen steps, without resting. Results: Of all participants, ninety-two (31.7%) were undernourished and twentyfour (8.0%) were at risk of undernutrition. Based on multivariate logistic regression analyses, the statistically significant factors associated with (risk of) undernutrition (P