Chewing difficulties, oral health, and nutritional status in adults with intellectual disabilities: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Chewing difficulty, poor oral health, inadequate and imbalanced nutrition are serious health problems in individuals with intellectual disabilities. The participants' chewing abilities, oral health and nutritional status were analysed in this study. METHODS: Forty-five adult participants with intellectual disabilities were included. Anthropometric measurements, oral health assessments, chewing ability evaluations and dietary intake analyses were conducted. RESULTS: A 56.8% of the participants were classified as overweight or obese. Teeth grinding was reported in 33.3% of the participants, while 40.0% experienced drooling. All participants with Down syndrome and 58.6% of the participants with developmental delay had chewing difficulties. Inadequate nutrient intake was observed and the fibre, vitamins B1, B3, B9, sodium, phosphorus and iron intakes were significantly lower than reference values in those with chewing difficulty (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Chewing difficulties were associated with lower intake of certain nutrients, highlighting the importance of addressing oral health and dietary counselling in this population.

Evaluation of malnutrition risk of inpatients in a research and training hospital: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Malnutrition is one of the most important factors affecting the prognosis of inpatients. The aim of this study is to determine the malnutrition risk of hospitalized patients and to examine the relationship between the presence of malnutrition and other parameters. METHODS: The study included 162 inpatients over the age of 25 who were staying in the hospital's internal medicine service for 7 days or more and who volunteered to participate in the study. A demographic-information questionnaire, consisting of 5 sections, a 24-h food recall record, NRS-2002, NRI and Beck Depression Inventory was given to patients during bedside interviews. After obtaining the necessary permission, the anthropometric measurements and biochemical parameter values of the patients were taken from their files. All statistical analyzes were performed by researchers with the SPSS package program. RESULTS: Of 162 patients (48.8% female, 51.2% male), 24.7% were at risk for malnutrition according to NRS-2002 and 66.7% of the patients were not depressive, based on the Beck Depression Inventory scale. The malnutrition risk was higher (60.0%) in patients who had been hospitalized for more than 15 days (p = 0.010). The majority of those with malnutrition had no problems preventing them from eating (32.5%), were found to be not depressive (52.5%) and were in the normal range of body mass index (57.5%) (p = 0.002, p = 0.034, p = 0.001; respectively). Nutrient intake was lower in patients with a higher malnutrition risk, but the difference was insignificant (p > 0.05). Albumin levels (p = 0.028) and total protein levels (p = 0.015) were significantly lower in patients who were at risk of malnutrition. While overweight patients showed higher levels of serum albumin (p < 0.001), CRP levels were found to be lower in overweight patients (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It was found that the majority of patients with malnutrition were in the normal range for BMI. Nutritional intake and biochemical parameters should be followed closely in patients who are at risk of malnutrition. Depression can be a cause for insufficient nutrition and should be evaluated, particularly in patients whose length of hospital stay is greater than 7 days.

Evaluation of Nutrition Knowledge of Pregnant Women before and after Nutrition Education according to Sociodemographic Characteristics.

The aim of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate the effect of nutrition education on nutritional knowledge levels of pregnant women. The study was undertaken on a sample of pregnant women (i = 743) attending health centers in Istanbul for prenatal care. Nutrition knowledge scores were significantly higher in posttest (23.0) than pretest (16.0) after receiving nutrition education (p < .001). Significant differences in pretest (p < .05) but not posttest (p > .05) scores were found for factors, such as education level, work status, and the number of pregnancies; significant differences in both test scores were found for age and nutrition information (p < .05). In conclusion, pregnant women need to be given adequate and appropriate nutrition education for maternal and child health according to sociodemographic characteristics.

Determining the relationship between body mass index, healthy lifestyle behaviors and social appearance anxiety.

The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between nutritional status, healthy lifestyle behaviors and social appearance anxiety of individuals aged 20-65 (n = 500). A significant, positive relationship was seen between body mass index and nutrition, and negative relationship between body mass index and spiritual development, interpersonal relations, stress management. There was a negative relationship between the ORTO-15 score and health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual development, interpersonal relationships, stress management. There was also a negative relationship between the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale and spiritual development, interpersonal relationships.