J Nutr Health.  2020 Feb;53(1):68-82. 10.4163/jnh.2020.53.1.68.

Evaluation of the dietary quality and nutritional status of elderly people using the Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E) in Seoul

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Food & Nutrition, Duksung Women's University, Seoul 01369, Korea. khkim@duksung.ac.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study evaluated the dietary quality and nutritional status of elderly people using the Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E).
METHODS
The participants were 204 elderly people over 65 years of age (38 men and, 166 women) in Seoul. The dietary information was analyzed using a questionnaire of NQ-E, which consisted of 19 checklist items, and 24-recall test data. The NQ-E scores and its four factors, including "˜balance', "˜moderation', "˜diversity', and "˜dietary behavior' factors, were calculated according to general characteristics of the subjects. The subjects were divided into the "˜monitoring needed group' (62 > NQ-E score) and the "˜good group' (62 ≤ NQ-E score) according to their NQ-E score.
RESULTS
The mean NQ-E score of the total subjects was 61.9, which was within the medium-high grade. The scores of balance, moderation, and dietary behavior factors were within the medium-high grade, while the score of the diversity factor was within the medium-low grade. The NQ-E score was 54.8 in the monitoring needed group and 69.3 in the good group. For the score of the diversity factor, the elderly living alone had a significantly lower score than the score for the elderly living with a spouse. The female subjects showed significantly higher scores of moderation and dietary behavior factors than did the male subjects. The daily intakes of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C and calcium in the monitoring needed group were significantly lower than those in the good group. The nutrient adequacy ratios (NAR) of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C and calcium in the monitoring needed group were significantly lower compared to the scores of the good group. The indexes of nutritional quality (INQ) of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C, calcium and potassium were less than 1 for all the subjects. The monitoring needed group had a significantly lower consumption of total foods, vegetables and mushrooms than the good group. As a result, the nutritional status of the monitoring needed group was significantly lower than that of the good group.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study show that NQ-E would be a useful tool for assessing the dietary quality of the elderly. In conclusion, a focused-nutrition education program and a useful guideline are needed for promoting the health and nutritional status in elderly people.

Keyword

elderly people; nutritional status; Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E)

MeSH Terms

Agaricales
Aged*
Ascorbic Acid
Calcium
Checklist
Education
Female
Humans
Male
Nutritional Status*
Nutritive Value
Potassium
Riboflavin
Seoul*
Spouses
Vegetables
Vitamin A
Ascorbic Acid
Calcium
Potassium
Riboflavin
Vitamin A

Cited by  1 articles

Evaluation of the nutrient quotient for the elderly (NQ-E) using congregate meal services according to their oral health conditions
Na-Young Yi, Jung-Hwa Choi
Nutr Res Pract. 2022;16(5):628-645.    doi: 10.4162/nrp.2022.16.5.628.


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