Quality of life and socio-demographic factors associated with nutritional risk in Brazilian community-dwelling individuals aged 80 and over: cluster analysis and ensemble methods.

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to use cluster analysis and ensemble methods to evaluate the association between quality of life, socio-demographic factors to predict nutritional risk in community-dwelling Brazilians aged 80 and over. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 104 individuals, both sexes, from different community locations. Firstly, the participants answered the sociodemographic questionnaire, and were sampled for anthropometric data. Subsequently, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was applied, and Mini Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire (MAN) was used to evaluate their nutritional status. Finally, quality of life (QoL) was assessed by a brief version of World Health Organizations' Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire and its older adults' version (WHOQOL-OLD). Results: The K-means algorithm was used to identify clusters of individuals regarding quality-of-life characteristics. In addition, Random Forest (RF) and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithms were used to predict nutritional risk. Four major clusters were derived. Although there was a higher proportion of individuals aged 80 and over with nutritional risk in cluster 2 and a lower proportion in cluster 3, there was no statistically significant association. Cluster 1 showed the highest scores for psychological, social, and environmental domains, while cluster 4 exhibited the worst scores for the social and environmental domains of WHOQOL-BREF and for autonomy, past, present, and future activities, and intimacy of WHOQOL-OLD. Conclusion: Handgrip, household income, and MMSE were the most important predictors of nutritional. On the other hand, sex, self-reported health, and number of teeth showed the lowest levels of influence in the construction of models to evaluate nutritional risk. Taken together, there was no association between clusters based on quality-of-life domains and nutritional risk, however, predictive models can be used as a complementary tool to evaluate nutritional risk in individuals aged 80 and over.

Effects of physical distancing by COVID-19 pandemic on diet quality, neurological and immunological markers, and fecal microbiota of Brazilian older women.

Physical distancing was used to prevent transmission of COVID-19, however there are concerns that this may promote harmful impacts on health, such as reduced levels of physical practice and changes in food intake and gut microbiota composition. This study evaluated the impacts of 6 months physical distancing on Brazilian older women upon body mass index (BMI), strength, physical activity level (IPAQ), eating habits, neurological markers (brain-derived neurotrophic factor-BDNF and cortisol), cytokines (IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, interferon-IFN-γ, tumor necrosis factor-TNF-α), aging-associated markers (vascular endothelial growth factor-VEGF, insulin-like growth factor-IGF-1, klotho and thymic stromal lymphopoietin-TSLP), besides specific groups of fecal microbiota. Fifteen women, over 60 years old, residents of São Paulo state (Brazil), were evaluated in March and in September 2020. The older adult women, with a mean age 66 ± 6.2 years presented significantly increased BMI and high effect size for non-protective foods consumption, reduced light physical activity and strength 6 months following the physical distancing. Furthermore, the serum concentration of IFN-γ, IGF-1, and IFN-γ/IL-5 were significantly higher, while lower concentration of IL-2 and IL-5 were observed 6 months after the physical distancing. Significant increase was noted only to Blautia spp. abundance after 6 months of physical distancing. Several correlations were observed at both before and after physical distancing, however, interestingly, many of them were lost or inverted 6 months following, while new ones emerged. Taken together, these results showed that lifestyle changes and stress conditions addressed by physical distancing from the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the health of older women included in the present study. Therefore, future follow-up studies are essential to propose interventions in order to restore the health conditions observed before the pandemic period, and thus to maintain the quality of life of older adults in different socioeconomic contexts.

O uso da bioimpedância elétrica e do ângulo de fase na avaliação do estado nutricional de pacientes com câncer: uma revisão integrativa / The use of electrical bioimpedance and the phase angle in the evaluation the nutritional status of patients with cancer: an integrative review

Contexto: Pacientes com câncer podem apresentar involução do estado nutricional devido a alterações metabólicas determinadas pela doença e ao tratamento, e a avaliação nutricional pode identificar precocemente a desnutrição e permitir intervenção adequada. O uso da bioimpedância elétrica tem crescido nos últimos anos, uma vez que a obtenção do ângulo de fase tem demonstrado ser bom indicador do estado nutricional. Objetivo: Apresentar e discutir os resultados de estudos que utilizaram o ângulo de fase na avaliação do estado nutricional de pacientes com câncer. Métodos: Estudo de revisão integrativa da literatura, no qual foi realizado o levantamento de artigos científicos nas bases de dados Cochrane, PubMed, LILACS (Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde) e Korea Med. Resultados: A busca resultou em 86 artigos, sendo selecionadas 21 publicações. Destes, 38,1% estudaram mais de um tipo de câncer, sendo cabeça e pescoço (19,1%) o tipo mais avaliado, e 61,9% avaliaram a sobrevida em relação aos valores do ângulo de fase. A observação da redução nos valores do ângulo de fase foi relacionada à sobrevida, ao estado nutricional e ao estadiamento. Conclusão: A bioimpedância elétrica para a avaliação do ângulo de fase é um procedimento rápido, de baixo custo e não invasivo. É importante considerar que outros estudos com a utilização da bioimpedância sejam conduzidos, a fim de confirmar sua confiabilidade como marcador de estado nutricional na prática clínica.

[Association of children's consumption of processed foods and family income in the city of São Paulo, Brazil]. / Consumo infantil de alimentos industrializados e renda familiar na cidade de São Paulo.

OBJECTIVE: To describe children's consumption of processed foods and its relationship with per capita family income based on a household survey. METHODS: Food consumption was studied in a statistical sample of 718 children living in the city of São Paulo in the period 1995-1996. A 24-hour dietary recall was used. Data regarding the association of children's consumption of 24 processed foods and per capita family income (arranged in quartiles) was analyzed. RESULTS: Consumption of sugar was higher among children of low income families whereas the consumption of chocolate powder, chocolate, yogurt, infant formula and soft drinks was higher among children of high income families (p< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that per capita family income affects the consumption of some processed foods.