Table 8 Participants' knowledge and reported practice towards sense of taste and smell in the pre and post intervention
Knowledge | Pre-test n = 531 | Post-test n = 531 | P-value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Correct | Incorrect | Correct | Incorrect | ||||||
No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % | ||
Do the senses of taste and smell impaired in the elderly? | 349 | 65.7 | 182 | 34.3 | 481 | 90.6 | 50 | 9.4 | 0.000* |
What are the factors that weaken (affect) senses of taste and smell other than age? | |||||||||
• Some diseases such as diabetes and cancer | 285 | 53.7 | 246 | 46.3 | 326 | 61.4 | 205 | 38.6 | 0.011* |
• Smoking | 302 | 56.9 | 229 | 43.1 | 383 | 72.1 | 148 | 27.9 | 0.000* |
• Poor oral hygiene and dentures | 323 | 60.8 | 208 | 39.2 | 366 | 68.9 | 165 | 31.1 | 0.006* |
What are the signs of impaired sense of taste and smell in the elderly? | |||||||||
• Poor ability of the elderly to distinguish the smell of food | 109 | 20.5 | 422 | 79.5 | 140 | 26.4 | 391 | 73.6 | 0.025* |
• Weak ability of the elderly to judge the taste of food | 416 | 78.3 | 115 | 21.7 | 458 | 86.3 | 73 | 13.7 | 0.001* |
• Consuming more salt or sugar than usual | 318 | 59.9 | 213 | 40.1 | 381 | 71.8 | 150 | 28.2 | 0.000* |
What are the effects of poor sense of taste and smell on the elderly? | |||||||||
• Causing many fire accidents | 177 | 33.3 | 354 | 66.7 | 226 | 42.6 | 305 | 57.4 | 0.002* |
• Malnutrition | 356 | 67.0 | 175 | 33.0 | 403 | 75.9 | 128 | 24.1 | 0.001* |
• Food poisoning | 250 | 47.1 | 281 | 52.9 | 303 | 57.1 | 228 | 42.9 | 0.001* |
• High blood pressure or blood sugar | 297 | 55.9 | 234 | 44.1 | 353 | 66.5 | 178 | 33.5 | 0.000* |
Reported practice | |||||||||
Presenting food in an attractive way | 393 | 74.0 | 138 | 26.0 | 495 | 93.2 | 36 | 6.8 | 0.000* |
Cutting food into large pieces is better than using a blender | 107 | 20.2 | 424 | 79.8 | 297 | 55.9 | 234 | 44.1 | 0.000* |
Eating in a group or with the rest of the family | 399 | 75.1 | 132 | 24.9 | 447 | 84.2 | 84 | 15.8 | 0.000* |
Use lemon, vanilla, cinnamon and spices instead of salt | 361 | 68.0 | 170 | 32.0 | 465 | 87.6 | 66 | 12.4 | 0.000* |
Paying attention to oral and dental hygiene or dentures | 418 | 78.7 | 113 | 21.3 | 480 | 90.4 | 51 | 9.6 | 0.000* |
Diversity of nutrients in one meal | 398 | 75.0 | 133 | 25.0 | 479 | 90.2 | 52 | 9.8 | 0.000* |
Write the date of preservation in the refrigerator on the food and review it before use | 387 | 72.9 | 144 | 27.1 | 425 | 80.0 | 106 | 20.0 | 0.006* |