Abstract: Objective To explore the charateristics and influencing factors of nutrition in the hospitalized patients with late-life depression(LLD). Methods A total of 106 hospitalized patients with LLD admitted to our hospital from January 2020 to March 2022 were enrolled in this study. The nutritional status of all patients was assessed by Mini Nutritional Assessment Scale(MNA). The clinical data were collected and analyzed retrospectively. The influencing factors of nutritional status in LLD patients were analyzed by Logistic regression. Results The MNA scores of 106 hospitalized patients with LLD ranged from 7 to 27, with an average score of(16.64±4.72), and 30 cases(28.30%) presented with malnutrition, 60 cases(56.60%) with risk of malnutrition, and 16 cases(15.09%) with good nutrition. Logistic regression analysis showed that low per capita monthly household income, severe depression, low exercise frequency, poor masticatory function, low nutritional support of caregivers, and diabetes were the independent risk factors for the nutritional status of hospitalized patients with LLD(P<0.05). Conclusions Hospitalized patients with LLD have a high risk of malnutrition, which may be related to low per capita monthly household income, low exercise frequency, poor chewing function, low nutritional support of caregivers, diabetes and severe depression.

Key words: late-life depression, hospitalization, nutritional status, masticatory function, exercise frequency, nutrition literacy of caregiver