Co-occurrence of depressive symptoms, risk of malnutrition, and functional limitations in chronically ill patients receiving long-term home care

Introduction The growing number of chronically ill individuals and the ageing of the population increase the need for systematic assessment of nutritional status and functional capacity in patients receiving long-term care. Malnutrition, reduced independence, and depressive symptoms often co-occur and may constitute a significant challenge when planning care in the home setting. Aim The aim of this study was to assess the co-occurrence of nutritional status, severity of depressive symptoms, and level of functional ability in chronically ill patients receiving long-term home care. Material and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 234 patients receiving long-term home nursing care in Poland. A survey questionnaire and standardized instruments were used: the Barthel Index, the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test and Spearman’s rho correlation (p ≤ 0.05). Due to the lack of clinical data on comorbidities and pharmacotherapy, no multivariate analyses were performed. Results and conclusions In the present study, the mean Barthel Index score (~19.4 points) indicated significant limitations in performing basic activities of daily living. Among the respondents, 67.6% showed moderate to severe depressive symptoms, while 85.5% were classified as being at risk of malnutrition. Significant negative correlations were found between the BDI score and all components of the MNA (rho = –0.301 to –0.381; p < 0.001), indicating that poorer nutritional status co-occurred with greater severity of depressive symptoms. In the studied group of patients receiving long-term home care, the concurrent presence of functional limitations, risk of malnutrition, and depressive symptoms was frequently observed. Given the cross-sectional design of the study and the absence of adjusted analyses, the findings should be interpreted with caution and treated as a description of co-occurrence, without the ability to infer the direction of the relationships.