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Mood and physical activity are associated with appetite in hospitalised older men and women

Mood and physical activity are associated with appetite in hospitalised older men and women
Mood and physical activity are associated with appetite in hospitalised older men and women
Background: the anorexia of ageing is an important factor in the development of malnutrition, frailty and sarcopenia amongst the older population and is a particular problem for hospital inpatients. This study assessed factors associated with appetite in a group of hospitalised older adults, to identify potential preventive strategies.

Design: cross sectional observational study.

Setting: eleven wards in one large hospital in England.

Subjects: older inpatients aged 70 years and over, admitted non-electively.

Methods: appetite was assessed using the 4-item Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ). Associations between SNAQ score and appetite-related factors present in the dataset were assessed in continuous analyses, including physical activity, mood, medication, cognition and living circumstance.

Results: 200 participants, mean age of 80.7 years (SD 6.9); 40% female. Prevalence of poor appetite was 43%. In univariate analyses lower medication count, higher level of physical activity and better mood were associated with higher SNAQ scores during admission. In a multivariate analysis, independent associations of higher levels of physical activity and better mood with higher SNAQ scores during hospital admission remained.

Conclusion: in this group of older adults, better mood and higher levels of habitual physical activity were independently associated with better appetite during hospital admission. These are potentially modifiable factors and could be targets for future research into interventions for the anorexia of ageing in the hospitalised older population.
0002-0729
afac297
Cox, Natalie
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Howson, Fiona
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Ibrahim, Kinda
54f027ad-0599-4dd4-bdbf-b9307841a294
Morrison, Leanne
920a4eda-0f9d-4bd9-842d-6873b1afafef
Sayer, Avan
a85472e7-8894-44b2-913f-cd77e96895db
Roberts, Helen
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Robinson, Sian M.
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b
Cox, Natalie
dfdfbc5f-41b8-4329-a4b5-87b6e93aa09e
Howson, Fiona
2578d848-4a23-4572-9770-584982a71e08
Ibrahim, Kinda
54f027ad-0599-4dd4-bdbf-b9307841a294
Morrison, Leanne
920a4eda-0f9d-4bd9-842d-6873b1afafef
Sayer, Avan
a85472e7-8894-44b2-913f-cd77e96895db
Roberts, Helen
5ea688b1-ef7a-4173-9da0-26290e18f253
Robinson, Sian M.
ba591c98-4380-456a-be8a-c452f992b69b

Cox, Natalie, Howson, Fiona, Ibrahim, Kinda, Morrison, Leanne, Sayer, Avan, Roberts, Helen and Robinson, Sian M. (2022) Mood and physical activity are associated with appetite in hospitalised older men and women. Age and Ageing, 51 (12), afac297. (doi:10.1093/ageing/afac297).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: the anorexia of ageing is an important factor in the development of malnutrition, frailty and sarcopenia amongst the older population and is a particular problem for hospital inpatients. This study assessed factors associated with appetite in a group of hospitalised older adults, to identify potential preventive strategies.

Design: cross sectional observational study.

Setting: eleven wards in one large hospital in England.

Subjects: older inpatients aged 70 years and over, admitted non-electively.

Methods: appetite was assessed using the 4-item Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ). Associations between SNAQ score and appetite-related factors present in the dataset were assessed in continuous analyses, including physical activity, mood, medication, cognition and living circumstance.

Results: 200 participants, mean age of 80.7 years (SD 6.9); 40% female. Prevalence of poor appetite was 43%. In univariate analyses lower medication count, higher level of physical activity and better mood were associated with higher SNAQ scores during admission. In a multivariate analysis, independent associations of higher levels of physical activity and better mood with higher SNAQ scores during hospital admission remained.

Conclusion: in this group of older adults, better mood and higher levels of habitual physical activity were independently associated with better appetite during hospital admission. These are potentially modifiable factors and could be targets for future research into interventions for the anorexia of ageing in the hospitalised older population.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 22 October 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 December 2022
Published date: 29 December 2022
Additional Information: The authorship list was changed to reflect the final published article on 2024/09/25. Stephen Lim was removed and Fiona Howson and Avan A Sayer were added.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 472660
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472660
ISSN: 0002-0729
PURE UUID: 1a7c453e-667c-4b98-9495-df1daac4b014
ORCID for Natalie Cox: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4297-1206
ORCID for Kinda Ibrahim: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5709-3867
ORCID for Leanne Morrison: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9961-551X
ORCID for Helen Roberts: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5291-1880
ORCID for Sian M. Robinson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-7269

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Date deposited: 13 Dec 2022 17:44
Last modified: 30 Nov 2024 05:04

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Contributors

Author: Natalie Cox ORCID iD
Author: Fiona Howson
Author: Kinda Ibrahim ORCID iD
Author: Leanne Morrison ORCID iD
Author: Avan Sayer
Author: Helen Roberts ORCID iD
Author: Sian M. Robinson ORCID iD

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