Types, design, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition interventions in older people in Africa: A scoping review protocol

Anthony Manyara; Tadios Manyanga; Rudo Chingono; Shane Naidoo; Kate Mattick; Grace Pearson; Opeyemi Babatunde; Niri Naidoo; Kate A Ward; Celia L Gregson

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0313036

Types, design, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition interventions in older people in Africa: A scoping review protocol

PLoS One. 2024 Nov 8;19(11):e0313036. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313036. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Anthony Manyara¹, Tadios Manyanga², Rudo Chingono², Shane Naidoo³, Kate Mattick^{2

4}, Grace Pearson¹, Opeyemi Babatunde⁵, Niri Naidoo⁶, Kate A Ward^{7

8}, Celia L Gregson^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Global Health and Ageing Research Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
² The Health Research Unit Zimbabwe, Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe.
³ Health and Rehabilitation, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁴ Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom.
⁵ School of Medicine, Primary Care Centre Versus Arthritis, Keele University, Keele, United Kingdom.
⁶ Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁷ MRC Unit The Gambia, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Banjul, The Gambia.
⁸ MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, Human Development and Health, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Introduction: Africa's older population is increasing and this, necessitates the development of interventions to promote healthy ageing. Nutrition is a key determinant of healthy ageing and local contextual evidence is needed to inform nutritional intervention development in Africa. There are already reviews on nutritional status and food insecurity in older adults in Africa. However, a synthesis of nutrition interventions targeting older people specifically, is lacking. Therefore, this protocol describes a scoping review that aims to systematically synthesise current evidence on nutrition interventions for older people in Africa.

Methods: The review will involve: a review of available reviews on nutrition in older people in Africa (Phase 1); a review of nutrition interventions developed or implemented among older people in Africa (Phase 2); and consultation with local nutrition stakeholders in Zimbabwe, and The Gambia to contextualise Phase 1 and 2 findings and solicit insights not in the published literature (Phase 3). Searches for Phases 1 and 2 will include bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, African Journals Online, African Index Medicus) and grey literature sources (i.e. relevant websites). Title, abstract, and full-text screening will be conducted in duplicate, data extracted using piloted tools and findings summarised using descriptive statistics and narrative text. Phase 3 will be conducted using hybrid workshops, audio-recorded, detailed notes taken, and findings combined with those from Phases 1 and 2.

Conclusion: The findings of this review will summarise current evidence on nutrition in older people in Africa and inform nutrition intervention development. The findings will be presented in conferences, meetings, and published open access.

Trial registration: This scoping review has been registered in OSF, registration DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FH74T.

Copyright: © 2024 Manyara et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

MeSH terms

Africa
Aged
Humans
Nutritional Status*
Research Design
Review Literature as Topic

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (using the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) Funding); CG, AMM, TM, RC, GP are funded via NIHR302394. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC-BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. The funders will have no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.