ABSTRACT

The study was designed to determine the effects of lifestyle and frailty on the nutritional status of older persons in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia state. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select two hundred (200) respondents from the study area. The frailty status of the respondents were collected with the aid of a questionnaire and were compared using 16 simple items of Strawbridge questionnaire to assess the frailty status of older persons. Subjects that scored at least three of the criteria were considered positive of frailty in that domain, while those not matching any of the five criteria were defined as robust. The domain include; Domain 1: Physical Function and Balance, Domain II Nutritive Function, Domain III Cognitive Function and Domain IV Sensory Function, 3-5 frail, 1–2 pre-frail and 0 robust. Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, mid upper arm circumference, waist circumference, hip circumference of older adults were made using standard procedure. The information on lifestyle related question was gotten to know the number of time they smoke, drink, sleep and travel as well as social interactions and frailty status of the respondents were compared using 16 simple items of Strawbridge questionnaire to assess the frailty status of older persons. Physical activity such as the number of times over the past seven days, the subjects engaged in sitting activities, how many hours spent on sitting activities were determined with the aid a well-structured questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed with the use of Predictive Analytics Software version 22. Point biserial correlation was used to find the relationship between frequent engagement in physical activities, anthropometric status, lifestyle function and frailty status. Results revealed that there were more females (57%) than the male (43%). Majority of the respondents age (41.5%) ranged between 70-79 while (6.0%) and (1.0%) were separated and divorced. 90.5% of the respondents were Christians. Majority (36.5%) of the respondents had primary education and no formal education (44.5). Their occupational status showed that they were farmers (36.5%) traders (28.5%) and unemployed (29.0%). Incomes are mainly got from children/relatives (19%) to the older person. The household of the respondents were between 1-5 in number. Most (80.5%) of the respondents received income less than 18,000. Most of respondents were actively involved in sitting (96.5%) and walking (56%) activities for prolonged durations, however they hardly participated in stairs climbing. Results on the frailty status showed that more than half (57.0%) of the respondents were robust, a good number (39.5%) of them were pre-frail while only few (3.5%) of them were classified as frail. The Results on the lifestyle pattern of the respondents showed that almost all (98%) of the respondents claimed they do not smoke. Also (61.5%) of the respondents do not take alcohol. Some (44.5%) respondents consumed breakfast, lunch and dinner, (30.0%) consumed only lunch and dinner while (22.5%) consumed breakfast and dinner. Most 89% do not skip any meal, while 60% skip breakfast and 1% skipped lunch and dinner. Among those that skipped meals, 25.0% reported it is a function of formed habit while 30.5% said they had no appetite. 67.5% of the respondents reported that cassava were their best foods, 2.5% reported rice and vegetable respectively. Also, the results showed that 87.0% never ate in-between meals, 12.0% ate sometimes while only 1.0% always ate in-between meals. Most (68.5%) of the respondents were underweight, (11.0%) had high BMI status. In waist/hip ratio, (88.5%) had normal WHR status while 11.5% were at risk of obesity. Correlation between the respondents frailty and lifestyle factors on the nutritional status revealed that no relationship (P>0.05) existed between respondents frailty status and nutritional status. However a significant relationship (P<0.05) exist only between type of job/activity