[The mediating role of malnutrition risk in associations between selected factors and disability among older adults].

Authors

Zhaowen Cheng, Yue Qiu, Zhicheng Wang

Published in

Wei sheng yan jiu = Journal of hygiene research. Volume 55. Issue 4. Pages 653-660.

Abstract

To investigate whether malnutrition risk mediated the associations between selected factors and disability among older adults.
Data were derived from the China Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey conducted in 2015. A multistage stratified cluster sampling method was used, and 3011 adults aged 60 years and older from six provincial-level sampling frames were included in the final analysis. The risk of malnutrition was assessed using the nutrition screening initiative (NSI) scale, widely implemented for community-dwelling older adults. Mediation effect analyses were performed using the testing procedures within Mplus 8 software. Parameter estimation utilized the Maximum Likelihood method, and bias-corrected 95%CI were estimated with 5000 bootstrap resamples.
Malnutrition risk significantly mediated several associations between selected factors and disability. Key findings included: Compared to those living and eating alone, older adults co-residing with children/grandchildren exhibited lower malnutrition risk, subsequently reducing disability risk (b=-0.103, bootstrap 95%CI -0.197--0.025, P<0.05). Higher annual household income per capita was associated with lower malnutrition risk, thereby reducing disability risk (b=-0.124, bootstrap 95%CI -0.170--0.086, P<0.001). Older adults with a chronic disease burden had higher malnutrition risk, which in turn elevated disability risk (b=0.099, bootstrap 95%CI 0.047-0.161, P<0.01). Higher nutrition knowledge levels inversely affected malnutrition risk, thereby lowering disability risk (b=-0.019, bootstrap 95%CI -0.033--0.006, P<0.01).
The elevated disability risk observed among older adults who live and eat alone, experience poor economic security, possess low nutrition knowledge, or suffer from chronic diseases may be related to their higher malnutrition risk.

PMID:
42543239
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 03 Aug 2026.

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