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Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle characteristics, health status and dietary factors of the participants (n = 613)

From: Malnutrition risks and their associated factors among home-living older Chinese adults in Hong Kong: hidden problems in an affluent Chinese community

 

Mean (SD) / n (%)

All (n = 613)

Normal nutritional status (MNA ≥ 24)

(n = 434)

At risk or malnourished (MNA < 24)

(n = 179)

p-value

Socio-demographic characteristics

 Age (years) * [range: 60–106]

78.5 (7.4)

78.5 (7.0)

78.6 (8.1)

0.838

 Sexa

  Male

282 (46.0)

203 (46.8)

79 (44.1)

0.551

  Female

331 (54.0)

231 (53.2)

100 (55.9)

 Educational level

  No formal education

188 (30.7)

127 (29.3)

61 (34.1)

0.382

  Primary school

258 (42.1)

183 (42.2)

75 (41.9)

  Secondary school or above

167 (27.2)

124 (28.6)

43 (24.0)

 Employment status

  Retired

580 (94.9)

412 (94.9)

168 (94.9)

0.825

  Unemployed

18 (2.9)

12 (2.8)

6 (3.4)

  Have part-time/full-time job

13 (2.1)

10 (2.3)

3 (1.7)

 Monthly household income (HK$)

  < 6000

497 (81.1)

352 (81.1)

145 (81.0)

0.992

  ≥ 6000

64 (10.4)

45 (10.4)

19 (10.6)

  Unsure

49 (8.0)

35 (8.1)

14 (7.8)

  Number of missing

3 (0.5)

2 (0.5)

1 (0.6)

 Received CSSA

  No

247 (40.3)

186 (42.9)

61 (34.1)

0.042

  Yes

365 (59.5)

247 (56.9)

118 (65.9)

  Number of missing

1 (0.2)

1 (0.2)

0 (0)

 Marital Status

  Single/divorced/separated/widowed

328 (53.5)

226 (52.1)

102 (57.0)

0.268

  Married/cohabited

285 (46.5)

208 (47.9)

77 (43.0)

 Living alone

  No

225 (36.7)

157 (36.2)

68 (38.0)

0.672

  Yes

388 (63.3)

277 (63.8)

111 (62.0)

Lifestyle characteristics

 Smoking status

  Non-smoker

451 (73.6)

319 (73.5)

132 (73.7)

0.055

  Ex-smoker

96 (15.7)

75 (17.3)

21 (11.7)

  Current smoker

66 (10.8)

40 (9.2)

26 (14.5)

 Drinking status

  Non-drinker

488 (79.6)

343 (79.0)

145 (81.0)

0.721

  Ex-drinker

68 (11.1)

51 (11.8)

17 (9.5)

  Current drinker

57 (9.3)

40 (9.2)

17 (9.5)

 Level of physical activity (IPAQ-SF)

  Low

82 (13.4)

47 (10.8)

35 (19.6)

0.005

  Moderate

339 (55.3)

239 (55.1)

100 (55.9)

  High

180 (29.4)

139 (32.0)

41 (22.9)

  Number of missing

12 (2.0)

9 (2.1)

3 (1.7)

Health status

 Total CCI scoreb

  0

302 (49.3)

221 (50.9)

81 (45.3)

0.059

  1

184 (30.0)

134 (30.9)

50 (27.9)

  2

58 (9.5)

34 (7.8)

24 (13.4)

  ≥ 3

61 (10.0)

38 (8.8)

23 (12.8)

  Number of missing

8 (1.3)

7 (1.6)

1 (0.6)

 Hearing ability

  Clear

359 (58.6)

273 (62.9)

86 (48.0)

< 0.001

  Fair

170 (27.7)

116 (26.7)

54 (30.2)

  Unclear

84 (13.7)

45 (10.4)

39 (21.8)

 Visual ability

  Clear

270 (44.0)

218 (50.2)

52 (29.1)

< 0.001

  Fair

198 (32.3)

135 (31.1)

63 (35.2)

  Unclear

145 (23.7)

81 (18.7)

64 (35.8)

 Use of denture

  No

219 (35.7)

160 (36.9)

59 (33.0)

0.373

  Yes

392 (63.9)

273 (62.9)

119 (66.5)

  Number of missing

2 (0.3)

1 (0.2)

1 (0.6)

 Difficulty in chewing food

  No

374 (61.0)

276 (63.6)

98 (54.7)

0.038

  Yes

238 (38.8)

157 (36.2)

81 (45.3)

  Number of missing

1 (0.2)

1 (0.2)

0 (0)

 Usual appetite

  Good

338 (55.1)

278 (64.1)

60 (33.5)

< 0.001

  Normal

241 (39.3)

148 (34.1)

93 (52.0)

  Bad

34 (5.5)

8 (1.8)

26 (14.5)

Dietary factors

 Below recommendation of the dietary guidelinesc:

  Grains (3 to 5 bowls per day)

199 (32.5)

127 (29.3)

72 (40.2)

0.008

  Vegetables (at least 3 servings per day)

508 (82.9)

351 (80.9)

157 (87.7)

0.041

  Fruits (at least 2 servings per day)

447 (72.9)

303 (69.8)

144 (80.4)

0.007

  Meats (5 to 6 taels per day)

572 (93.3)

403 (92.9)

169 (94.4)

0.541

  Milk (1 to 2 glass per day)

493 (80.4)

352 (81.1)

141 (78.8)

0.473

 Usually cooking food myself

  No

127 (20.7)

84 (19.4)

43 (24.0)

0.202

  Yes

481 (78.5)

346 (79.7)

135 (75.4)

  Number of missing

5 (0.8)

4 (0.9)

1 (0.6)

 Dietary supplements consumption

  No

386 (63.0)

267 (61.5)

119 (66.5)

0.248

  Yes

227 (37.0)

167 (38.5)

60 (33.5)

Dietary behaviour

 Favour food group

  No preference

54 (8.8)

30 (6.9)

24 (13.4)

0.022

  Grains

165 (26.9)

108 (24.9)

57 (31.8)

  Vegetables

167 (27.2)

128 (29.5)

39 (21.8)

  Fruits

70 (11.4)

55 (12.7)

15 (8.4)

  Meats

146 (23.8)

104 (24.0)

42 (23.5)

  Others (milk or fat/salt/sugar)

6 (1.0)

4 (0.9)

2 (1.1)

  Number of missing

5 (0.8)

5 (1.2)

0 (0)

 Usual number of main meals skipped per day

  One or more

106 (17.3)

59 (13.6)

47 (26.3)

< 0.001

  None

507 (82.7)

375 (86.4)

132 (73.7)

 Preferred temperature of food and drink

  Warm

365 (59.5)

269 (62.0)

96 (53.6)

0.088

  Hot

226 (36.9)

148 (34.1)

78 (43.6)

  Cold

21 (3.4)

16 (3.7)

5 (2.8)

  Number of missing

1 (0.2)

1 (0.2)

0 (0)

  1. CCI Charlson comorbidity index, CSSA comprehensive social security assistance, HK$ Hong Kong dollar, IPAQ-SF the international physical activity questionnaire – short form
  2. Data marked with * are presented as mean (standard deviation), all others are presented as frequency (%)
  3. aSex distribution of the Hong Kong population aged 60 or above: males, 643,258 (47.6%); females, 707,438 (52.4%) [48]
  4. bTotal score of Charlson comorbidity index was calculated by the summation of weighed scores of each presented condition of the individual
  5. cThe dietary guidelines were based on the serving size recommendation in the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid for Elderly, developed by Department of Health, Hong Kong [47]. The five major food groups include grains (e.g. rice, noodles, starchy vegetables, bread and oat meals), vegetables (e.g. leafy vegetables, melon, mushroom), fruits (e.g. apple, banana, dried fruits), meats (e.g. beef, fish, egg) and milk (e.g. cow milk, yogurt, cheese) [47]. One bowl equals to 250-300 ml, one serving of vegetable equals to half bowl of cooked vegetables, one serving of fruit equals to one medium-sized fruit, one tael of meats equals to meats with the size of a table tennis ball and one glass equals to 240 ml [47].