Abstract:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a major public health problem. good nutrition
status can slow down the progression of the disease. this descriptive correlational study aimed to
examine nutritional status and factors related to the nutritional status in older adults with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A multi-stage random sampling was used to reccruite a
sample of 120 older adults with COPD who visited the COPD clinic at community hospitals in
Nakhon Ratchasima province. Data collection was carried out from September to November 2017.
Research instruments included a demographic data interview form, the severity of COPDs scale, the
nutritional status assessment for aging, a questionnaire of food intake assist for COPD, the Thai
geriatric depressions scale, and a questionnaire of food intake knowledge for OPD. Their reliability
were .83, .82, .93and .87 respectively. Data were analyzed by using frequency, percent, mean,
standard deviation, and Spearmans correlation coefficients. The results showed that 65.0% of the
participants were at a normal level of nutritional status, 31.7% were at risk for malnutrition, and
3.3% were malnutrition. Severity of illness and knowledge about appropriate food intake were
significantly correlated withnutritional status in older adults with COPD (r= -.28, p<.01 andr= .21,
p<.05, respectively). However, income adequacy, assistance with food intake and depression were
found no relationship with the nutritional status (p> .05).
These findings suggest that nurses and health care providers for elderly should utilize to
develop nursing practice activities by emphasizing on caring to diminish illness severity and provide
knowledge about proper food consumption. Consequently, suitable nutritional status in older adults with
COPD would be achieved.