Average life expectancy increases year after year throughout the world. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) test is one of the most extensively applied tools for identifying the nutritional risks in elderly people. Here, we assess the nutritional status of elderlies accommodated in nursing homes by the MNA-SF test. A cross-sectional study of 773 elderly individuals living in nursing homes was conducted to evaluate their nutritional status, using the mini nutritional assessment questionnaire (MNA-SF), in Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, 773 elderly individuals were included. Of these, 404 (52.27%) were men and 369 (47.73%) women. Of all subjects, 8.4% were malnourished, 37% at risk of malnutrition, and 54.6% well nourished. In terms of frequency of subjects at risk of malnutrition (43.6% in women and 30.9% in men) and well-nourished (47.2% in women and 61.4% in men), there was a statistically significant difference between women and men (p<0.001). The results showed that 80% and 58.5% of individuals with malnutrition had a sharp or moderate reduction in food intakes, respectively, and their weight loss was greater than three kg in the last three months. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Regression results indicated that the lower MNA-score was independently associated with higher age (r=-0.2). Moreover, the MNA-score had a significant positive correlation with weight (r=0.42), BMI (r=0.34), MACs (r=0.33) and CCs (r=0.32) (P<0.001). This study reveals that nursing home residents are at increased risk of malnutrition, and this problem is associated with weight loss, increased drug use, health status, and decline in physical activity and food intake.

COVID-19 has caused a major crisis all over the world. To manage this crisis, a fixed shift system was applied to nursing home staff in Turkey to protect nursing home residents from the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff were not allowed to leave the institution during fixed shifts. It is thought that this practice for the COVID-19 outbreak, while protecting nursing home residents on the one hand, increased the workload and related stress of nursing home staff on the other hand. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study examining the workload and stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for nursing home staff in Turkey. The aim of this study was to examine the level of workload and work stress experienced by staff working in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used in the study. The sample of the study consisted of nursing home personnel working in nursing homes in the provinces of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya between October 2021 and January 2022. A personal information form and a workload and stress scale were used for collecting the data. Cluster analysis was performed with SPSS software. Results: In total, 154 nursing home personnel participated in the study. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean age of the two clusters. The first cluster was described as “old” and the second as “young”. Statistically significant and high values were found in the quantitative workload, qualitative workload, job organization, social work area and fatigue factors in the nursing home staff in the older participant cluster. Conclusion: The results of this study provide new information about the concepts of workload and work stress experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, which will serve as a guide for the management of future pandemics. Therefore, this study will contribute to the strategies to be followed in future pandemics in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Despite the prevalence of publications focusing on the trends of the studies on ergonomics, the information of the aging focused studies within these publications is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to provide general information regarding the trends of the studies on ergonomics and aging by using bibliometric analysis techniques and to provide a general view regarding to the development of this field. METHODS: The bibliometric data of the publications on ergonomics and aging were retrieved from the WOS Database and analysed by using the Bibliometrix extension of the R Packet Programme. For the visualisation of the bibliometric data, the Vosviewer programme was used. RESULTS: Analysis results of the 405 papers published between the years of 1979 and 2020 show that main themes were digital human modelling, design for all, workplace ergonomics, transport and vehicle design, kitchen design, human factors, care and vision in old age. CONCLUSIONS: The content of the studies on ergonomics and aging changed from basic elements of ergonomic design for older people to the investigations about computer-aided applications and the effect of the developing technology. Therefore, it can be said that the studies on ergonomics and aging are changing parallel to the development of the technology.

Bu çalışma Türkiye’deki huzur evlerinde yaşayan yaşlıların (65 yaş ve üzeri) genel profilini çıkarmak amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Betimleyici bir çalışma olan bu araştırmanın evreni Türkiye’deki huzurevlerinde yaşayan 65 yaş üzeri yaşlılardır. Veriler Türkiye’de 6 bölgede, 19 ilde, 35 huzur evinde kalan toplam 429 kişi ile 10.10.2016 ve 10.10.2019 tarihleri arasında yüz yüze görüşülerek uygulanan anket tekniğiyle toplanmıştır. Huzur evlerinde kalan yaşlılara sosyo-demografik özelliklere ilişkin 9 soru; yaşamdan beklentileri, yaşamdaki endişeleri, huzur evinde kalmayı isteyip istemedikleri, evde bakım istekleri ve devletten beklentilerine yönelik olarak 5 soru sorulmuştur. Veriler SPSS istatistik programından yararlanılarak frekans ve yüzdeler hesaplanıp analizler yapılarak değerlendirilmiştir. Araştırma bulgularında yaşlıların çoğunluğunun (yaş aralığı 65-74) “genç yaşlı” grubunda, ilk okul mezunu (%28,9), erkek (%60), sosyal güvenceye sahip (%81,1) , “dul eşi ölmüş” (% 63,6) olduğu ve katılımcıların en az “1-2” çocuk sahibi oldukları (%38,9) belirlenmiştir. Katılımcıların gelir seviyelerinin yeterli olmadığı belirlenmiştir. Katılımcıların yaşamdan beklentilerinde ilk sırada “sağlık ve huzur”, ikinci sırada bakıma muhtaç olmamaydı. Katılımcıların yaşamdaki endişeleri sırasıyla bakıma muhtaç olmak, yalnızlık ve ölüm endişesi olduğu belirlenmiştir. Katılımcıların çoğunluğunun (%78.1) huzurevinde kalmayı istediklerini, bununla birlikte, evde bakım hizmetinden yararlanmak isteyenlerin (%58.5) de az olmadığı belirlenmiştir. Katılımcılar, devletten beklentilerini öncelikli olarak maaş artırımı, sonrasında sırasıyla yaşlı evi ve sosyal konut olarak belirtmişlerdir.