Anthropometric Measures of Rural, Elderly, Community-Dwelling Women and the Ability of the DETERMINE Checklist to Predict These Measures

Using a stratified random sample of 249 rural community-dwelling women, age 65 or older, this study evaluated the predictability of the DETERMINE checklist to identify those with at-risk anthropometric measures. A modified DETERMINE checklist found 7% and 42% of the sample to be at high and moderate nutrition risk respectively. Overall, stepwise logistic regression identified four DETERMINE checklist questions that predicted at-risk anthropometric measures: illness, weight change, poor fruit, vegetable or dairy intake, and difficulty shopping, cooking and feeding oneself. Weight change and illness identified at-risk anthropometric measures in the oldest-old, whereas poor fruit, vegetable or dairy product consumption identified those with at-risk anthropometric measures in the young old.