The Study of Nutritional, Hematological, Biochemicals, and Anthropometrical Parameters for The Elderly in The City of Sulaymaniyah: A Longitudinal Study

According to age, nutrition is crucial to overall health. However, it becomes even more critical as we age because maintaining a good diet can help us manage illnesses and other health issues. Therefore, this study investigates the nutritional and health status of elderly individuals in an elderly care home in Sulaymaniyah City. The primary focus of this research study is on older people's nutrition and health status, especially those who live in an elderly care home. Thus, several anthropometric and biochemical assessments were performed on 22 elders in the care home to determine their nutritional and health status. The study duration was four months, which analyzed cases for the biochemical assessment (VitamenD3, cholesterol, Ferritin, and Hemoglobin) and the anthropometrics', including height, weight, and calf circumference. The height and weight were used to identify the body mass index (BMI) for each case that had been evaluated. The states of the mentioned parameters can contribute to the most common health issues among the elderly; therefore, investigating them underlines the causes and common problems in their physical well-being and health status. Additionally, all collected data was analyzed using the SPSS program. The results showed that most cases had insufficient vitamin D3 by 68% and 77% in this study's initial and final periods. Vitamin D3 insufficiency contributes to an overall decline in the elderly's health status as it may cause autoimmune disorders and various infections. Further, the research also highlights that 54% of the cases among both genders were obese. Obesity may lead to chronic health diseases among the elderly, such as cardiovascular disease, and hypertension may also lead to malnutrition due to poor dietary quality intake and micronutrient deficiencies. This study identifies the overall nutritional and health status of those living in an elderly care home.