Nutritional status and loneliness impact functional status in community-dwelling older adults
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: AIM: This study aimed to understand how modifiable behavioural health determinants (HD), such as the quality of sleep, oral health, nutritional risk, and loneliness, affect the association between activity and functional status in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) were measured using seven days of accelerometry data from 53 community-dwelling older adults (79.8 ± 6.1 yrs, 71.7 % females). Volume, pattern and variability of walking, upright, sitting and lying bouts were extracted. Measures include Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living (NEADL) for functional status (FS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep, Oral-health-related quality of life and self-reported oral health (OHIP-14) for oral health, Seniors in the community: risk evaluation for eating and nutrition, Version II (SCREENII) for nutritional risk and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 3-item scale for loneliness. Linear regression models investigated the direct association between FS and activity. The impact of HD on the direct relationship between FS and activity was investigated by entering each HD as a covariate and an interaction term. RESULTS: ] (p = 0.046). Those who reported less loneliness (UCLA <5) reported higher FS with greater number of daily walking bouts (p = 0.025). Neither the quality of sleep nor oral health moderated the association between FS and activity. CONCLUSION: Nutritional risk and loneliness affect the relationship between activity and functional status. Older adults, particularly those with higher nutritional risk or lower loneliness, may benefit from more walking or upright activities.
Source: Clinical Nutrition ESPEN
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,750
Funders: European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, UK Research and Innovation, Innovative Health Initiative, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Newcastle University, Hope Foundation for Research on Ageing, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Innovative Medicines Initiative, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR Sheffield Clinical Research Facility
OpenAlex ID: W7125380760