Malnutrition tied to depressive mood in older adults undergoing rehabilitation

Nutritional status may influence the mental health of older adults undergoing rehabilitation, reports a recent study. This association is mediated by muscle mass reduction and disease burden.

“Depressive mood is prevalent in geriatric patients who undergo rehabilitation,” according to the authors. “Malnutrition, which frequently coexists in this demographic group, likely affects mental health status significantly.”

A total of 189 geriatric rehabilitation patients were included in this prospective cohort study. The authors identified malnutrition using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria and assessed depressive mood using the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15).

In addition, causal mediation analysis was carried out to assess the potential mediation of the GLIM components in the relationship between malnutrition and depressive mood.

Malnutrition was found to have a positive association with higher GDS-15 scores at both admission (p=0.007) and discharge (p<0.001).

Participants with severe malnutrition were more likely to have a depressive mood upon discharge than those with a moderate condition (moderate malnutrition: odds ratio [OR], 3.84, 95 percent CI, 1.48‒9.94; p=0.005; severe malnutrition: OR, 5.11, 95 percent CI, 1.52‒15.17; p=0.003).

Moreover, both muscle mass reduction (OR, 1.51, 95 percent CI, 1.01‒2.27; p=0.042) and disease burden (OR, 1.37, 95 percent CI, 1.00‒1.89; p=0.047) were found to mediate the relationship between malnutrition and depressive mood at discharge.

“These findings emphasize the importance of a multidimensional geriatric rehabilitation approach that includes nutritional interventions,” the authors said.