TY - JOUR
T1 - Nutritional status and its health-related factors among older adults in rural and urban areas
AU - Chen, Su Hui
AU - Cheng, Hsin Yi
AU - Chuang, Yeu Hui
AU - Shao, Jung Hua
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - Aim: To compare health-related characteristics, nutrition-related factors and nutritional status of older adults living in rural and urban counties of Taiwan. Background: The older adult population of Taiwan is increasing. Furthermore, older people living in rural areas have shorter life expectancy and more chronic diseases than their urban counterparts. However, little is known about the health-related characteristics, nutrition-related factors and nutritional status of older adults living in rural and urban areas of Taiwan, limiting nurses' ability to identify and care for older adults at risk of poor nutritional health. Design: Cross-sectional, comparative. Methods: Older adults were randomly selected from names of residents of an adjacent rural and urban area of northern Taiwan and having completing the 2009 health evaluation. From March-July 2010, older adult participants (N = 366) provided data on demographic and health-related information, nutritional self-efficacy, health locus of control and nutritional status. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and compared using chi-square and t-test. Results: Older rural participants had significantly lower educational level, less adequate income, higher medication use, lower scores on self-rated health status and researcher-rated health status and lower self-rated healthy eating status than their urban counterparts. Moreover, rural participants had significantly lower nutritional self-efficacy, higher chance health locus of control and poorer nutritional status than their urban counterparts. Conclusions: Our results suggest that nurses should assess older adults living in rural areas for nutritional health and nutrition knowledge. Based on this assessment, nurses should develop easy, practical and accessible nutritional programmes for this population.
AB - Aim: To compare health-related characteristics, nutrition-related factors and nutritional status of older adults living in rural and urban counties of Taiwan. Background: The older adult population of Taiwan is increasing. Furthermore, older people living in rural areas have shorter life expectancy and more chronic diseases than their urban counterparts. However, little is known about the health-related characteristics, nutrition-related factors and nutritional status of older adults living in rural and urban areas of Taiwan, limiting nurses' ability to identify and care for older adults at risk of poor nutritional health. Design: Cross-sectional, comparative. Methods: Older adults were randomly selected from names of residents of an adjacent rural and urban area of northern Taiwan and having completing the 2009 health evaluation. From March-July 2010, older adult participants (N = 366) provided data on demographic and health-related information, nutritional self-efficacy, health locus of control and nutritional status. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and compared using chi-square and t-test. Results: Older rural participants had significantly lower educational level, less adequate income, higher medication use, lower scores on self-rated health status and researcher-rated health status and lower self-rated healthy eating status than their urban counterparts. Moreover, rural participants had significantly lower nutritional self-efficacy, higher chance health locus of control and poorer nutritional status than their urban counterparts. Conclusions: Our results suggest that nurses should assess older adults living in rural areas for nutritional health and nutrition knowledge. Based on this assessment, nurses should develop easy, practical and accessible nutritional programmes for this population.
KW - Health locus of control
KW - Nurse
KW - Nursing
KW - Nutritional status
KW - Older adults
KW - Rural-urban
KW - Self-efficacy
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U2 - 10.1111/jan.12462
DO - 10.1111/jan.12462
M3 - Article
C2 - 24894954
AN - SCOPUS:84916937031
VL - 71
SP - 42
EP - 53
JO - Journal of Advanced Nursing
JF - Journal of Advanced Nursing
SN - 0309-2402
IS - 1
ER -