Assessment of Nutritional Status and Functional Capacity among Geriatric Population of Rural and Urban Area of Chattogram District of Bangladesh

Background: Bangladesh like many developing countries around the world is experiencing population ageing. There is inadequate information regarding the prevalence of malnutrition and functional dependency in rural compared to urban areas and its associated factors of community-living older (Geriatric) residents in this country. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the nutritional status and functional capacity of the geriatric population of rural and urban area of Chattogram District of Bangladesh and to search its associated factors. Methods: This community based cross-sectional comparative study was carried out under the supervision of Department of Medicine, Chittagong Medical College Hospital from October 2018 to September 2019. Through a multistage random sampling subjects aged 60 years and over from two upazila of Chattogram district (213 subjects living in a rural area) and from two wards of Chattogram city (203 subjects living in urban area) were included. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire, nutritional status was assessed with Mini Nutritional Assessment- Short Form (MNA-SF) tool and functional assessment was done using the Modified Barthel self-care index (BSI). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (Version 23.0 for Windows). Results: In the rural sample, 51.6 % was female and the mean age was 66.12±6.52 years. In the urban sample, 36 % were female and the mean age was 66.29±4.79 years. Rural participants compared with urban had a lower level of education and income. Among elderly, living in the rural sample, 29.1% was malnourished while the proportion was 6.4% in the urban sample. Proportion of subjects was fully independent in performing their daily activities was 56.3% and 80.0% respectively in rural and urban sample (p<0.001). About 44% of the rural people need help to perform their daily activities while the proportion was 20% in urban sample. Age >70 years, low socio-economic status and presence of multimorbidity appeared to be independently associated with poor nutritional status and low functional capacity. Conclusion: Rural older individuals living in Chattogram district were more likely to be malnourished than urban older and had associated reductions in functional capacity and independence.