Assessment of functional status and risk of malnutrition amongst the working and non-working older adults in Kolkata Rai Sweata Rani, Mandsaurwala Samina Department of Food Science & Nutritional Management, J.D. Birla Institute (affiliated to Jadavpur University) Kolkata - 700020 Online Published on 2 February, 2024. Abstract The study was conducted to compare the nutritional status, functional status, and level of physical activity of the working (N=100), and non-working (N=100), aged 60 years and above, elderly living in Kolkata, (West Bengal). Standardized tools were used primarily the Mini Nutritional Assessment to determine the nutritional status, the Katz Index of Independence in daily Activities to assess the functional status, and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) to assess the level of physical activity. SPSS version 20.0 was used to analyse the collected data and statistical tests like ANOVA, T-test, and Pearson s correlation were used to statistically analyse the results. The study showed that malnutrition and the risk of malnutrition were present among both the working and non-working elderly population. However, it was slightly higher among the non-working elderly population.Among the working population, 13 percent were malnourished, 47 percent were at risk of malnutrition, and among the non-working population 20 percent were malnourished, and 50 percent were at risk of malnutrition. Functional ability in terms of activities of daily living was higher among the non-working elderly in comparison to the working elderly. The level of physical activity declined with age and was higher for males than females in both groups. Top Keywords Ageing, Malnutrition, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Functional decline, Physical activity scale for Elderly (PASE). Top |