Avaliação da ingestão de alimentos fonte de vitamina b12 em idosos hospitalizados

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the intake of food sources of B12 vitamin by hospitalized elderly people. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 64 patients, both sexes, hospitalized in Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira - IMIP, Recife, Brazil, during the months of September and October 2017. Socioeconomic and anthropometric data was collected through a form, with a Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and a Quantitative Feeding Frequency Questionnaire (QFFQ). All data were processed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program, version 13.0. Results: The majority of the pool was married (50%), followed by 32% of widows, 9.4% of divorced and 7.8% os singles. Regarding school education the majority (89%) didn’t finish middle school. All of them had a medical diagnosis of Ischemic Stroke. The average age was 73.3 ± 8.0 years old, with an average per capita income of R$590.9 ± 500.9. According to the MNAs applied, 11 patients did not show nutritional risks (17,2%), 40 showed malnutrition risks (62,5%) and 13 were malnourished (20,3%). From the seniors in a malnutrition risk or malnourished, 8 (20%) did not meet the recommendations. Conclusion: The process of aging brings with it important changes to the population’s feeding habits. Therefore, a study on the insufficient intake of Vitamin B12 foods is an important strategy in the clinical and nutritional evaluation of the elderly, and it may avoid possible pathologies associated with vitamin deficiency.