Food insecurity, quality of life, and socioeconomic conditions of older adults: BRAZUCA Natal study

This study aimed to analyze the association between socioeconomic conditions and food insecurity (FI) in the perception of quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in a capital of the Northeast of Brazil.

This cross-sectional study included 190 older adults selected through probabilistic sampling. FI was evaluated by the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA) and QoL by the WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD questionnaires. Socioeconomic information was collected through in-person interviews, with responses recorded using an electronic questionnaire developed on the EpiCollect5 digital platform (available for smartphones, tablets, and web). Statistical analyses included absolute and percentage frequencies and Poisson regression with robust variance.

The main results showed that, in the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, being in FI increased the probability of having a worse perception of QoL in the psychological (PR=1.47; 95%CI 1.10-1.66) and environmental (PR=1.70; 95%CI 1.21-2.41) domains. Considering the WHOQoL-OLD questionnaire, FI was associated with a worse perception of QoL in the domains of sense functioning (PR=1.46; 95% CI 1.06-2.00), autonomy (PR=1.57; 95% CI 1.13-2.18), present, past and future activities (PR=1.75; 95% CI 1.23-2.49), social participation (PR=1.34; 95% CI 1.01-1.79), death, dying (PR=1.90; 95% CI 1.34-2.68) and in the total score (PR=2.28; 95% CI 1.62-3.20).

The results show that the household’s FI condition can have a negative impact on older adults' perception of QoL.