Results

Participation Characteristics Although no statistically significant association was found between

The Association between the Item
Age
N
N=40
% loneliness and nutritional risk (R= 0.21; P=0.18)

Feeling of Loneliness and

64 years old and under 2 5
65 – 84 years old 28 70
85 years old and older 10 25
Sex N=40

Nutritional Risks among Home- Female

Male
Socioeconomic status (% of National Poverty Guideline)
25
15
N=34
62
38

Delivered Meals Participants

<100 15 44
100-124 2 5
125-149 4 12
150-184 3 8
185+ 10 29
Social Interaction N=34
have family/ friends who visit at least weekly 29 85
Siwei Zhu, Dietetic Intern Do not have family/ friends who visit at least weekly 5 15
Living Arrangement N=40
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University Live alone 28 74
Correspondence: sz652@cornell.edu Live with others 10 26
Current Partnership N = 40
Single or widowed 31 78
Married or currently in relationship 9 22
Mobility N=39
Problems Physically able to shop, cook, and feed themselves 6 15
Not physically able to shop, cook, and feed themselves 33 85
• Poor nutrition can be influenced by physical and psychological health, socioeconomic Chronic disease history N=37
status, and environmental factors1 Have 2 or more chronic diseases
Have no or less than 2 chronic disease
32
5
86
14
• Social isolation is common in older adults due to impaired physical functionality. Psychological health history
Have a history or mental illness
N=33
7 21
Do not have a history or mental illness 26 78
• Loneliness and social isolation could impact older adults’ eating behaviors, and in Nutritional Risk N=40
turns, nutritional health. High nutritional risk (NSI≧ 6) 24 60
Feelings of loneliness N=40
High loneliness scale score (loneliness scale score ≧ 5) 3 7.5
Background
• Nutritional health is harder to manage as people age due to compromised functional No significant differences in loneliness No significant differences in loneliness No significant differences in loneliness
ability.2 scale score by mobility scale score by current partnership scale score by eating companionship
• Research surrounding senior nutrition home-delivered meals programs found that their (P=0.63) (P=0.32) (P=0.62)
participants are at high nutritional risk. 3,4
• High rates of loneliness or isolation in senior nutrition home-delivered meal program
participants.5
• Mixed results in the association between loneliness and nutritional risk in older adults.6,7,8
• Few studies investigate associations between social factors and loneliness and how
loneliness impacts nutritional risk in home-delivered meal participants.

Research Objectives Methods

• This study aims to investigate how
mobility, current relationship, and eating
alone are associated with the feeling of
loneliness among the elderly population.
• Investigate any association between
loneliness and nutritional risks among
elders.
• Investigate any association between
mobility and nutritional risks among
elders.
The findings of this study will inform a need
for establishing or expanding of elder nutrition
programs that focuses on addressing older
adults’ loneliness and social isolation, which
complement nutrition programs’ operations.
Conceptual Model
• Cross-sectional, correlational study
design.
• 40 convenient sample participants
selected from a senior nutrition
program based on completeness of a
new evaluation on loneliness beginning
on April 2020.
• Administrative data were collected on
participants’ demographic variables,
nutritional risk scores, and loneliness
scale scores using validated
assessment tools.
• All answers of “unknown” was excluded
from data analyses.
• Data were analyzed using JMP Pro*15.
• 2-Tailed Tests were used in analyzing
associations between mobility, current
partnership, or eating companionship
and loneliness, and the association
between mobility and nutritional risks.
• Significance between the feeling of
loneliness and nutritional risks was
analyzed using Pearson’s coefficient
correlation test.
• Age-adjusted for all tests of association
No significant differences in nutritional risk score
by mobility (P=0.57) Conclusions
• No statistically significant association was found between mobility, current partnership, or
eating companionship and loneliness in older adults even after adjusted for age.
• No significant association between mobility or loneliness and nutritional risk in older
adults, after adjusting for age.
Limitations
• Limited administrative data availability and small study population due to newly
implemented loneliness evaluation survey starting on April 2020
• One-time assessment of loneliness scale and nutritional risk scores
Implications
• Dietitians should investigate elderly nutrition determinants and find strategies to resolve the
high average nutritional risk among home-delivered meals program participants.
• Future research should further examine the impact of loneliness on nutritional risks in the
older population with a larger sample size and repeated assessments of loneliness and
nutritional risk scores.
Bibliography
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3. Coulston AM et al. Meals-on-wheels applicants are a population at risk for poor nutritional status. J Am Diet Assoc.1996;doi:10.1016/S0002-8223(96)00157-5.
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5. Thomas KS et al. “It’s Not Just a Simple Meal. It’s So Much More”: Interactions Between Meals on Wheels Clients and Drivers. J Appl Gerontol. 2020;39:151–158.
6. Boulos C et al. Social isolation and risk for malnutrition among older people. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2017;17:286–294.
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