Nutritional status and vitamins with antioxidant action in institutionalized elderly adults in Santiago, Chile

Introduction: Aging is a physiological oxidative process and part of the life course. The growth of the elderly population in Chile has generated the need to promote healthy aging, where maintaining adequate levels of antioxidants is essential.Objective: To determine the plasmatic levels of vitamins with antioxidant action in institutionalized older adults in Santiago de Chile.Materials and methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in institutionalized older adults in Santiago, Chile. Nutritional status and cardiovascular risk, bio-chemical profile and plasmatic levels of vitamins A, C and E were determined. For the statistical analysis, the T-student test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used according to the distribution of the data. A significance level of 5% (p<0.05) was considered.Results: 79.5% of our sample were women, who had a higher BMI and % fat mass than men. They also presented higher plasma lipid levels associated with cardiovascular risk.Regarding vitamins, a higher plasmatic level of vitamin E was observed in women, compared to men.Conclusion: In institutionalized older adults, higher levels of plasma lipids associated with cardiovascular risk factors were observed in women, however, higher levels of vitamin E were also observed.