[Nutritional status and nutritional rehabilitation of elderly people living in long-term care institutions].

UNLABELLED

We review our studies on the most important factors related to feeding and nutrition in long-term care institutions, as well as we present the nutritional status of elderly people living in social homes, and, based on our results, we make recommendations concerning nutritional rehabilitation.

AIMS

We aimed to assess the following: nutritional status of people older than sixty years (elderly) living in long-term care institutions; changes in the body mass index of elderly living in long-term care institutions; changes in the nutritional status of elderly living in long-term care institutions during the last half decade; relations and correlations between acute and chronic diseases and nutritional status; the sip feed provision for elderly living in long-term care institutions; relationship between the discovered potential influencing factors and nutritional status screened by Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST).

METHODS

We screened the nutritional status of altogether 4774 (men: 28.9-30.9%, women: 69.1-71.19%; mean age: 77.8+/-8.9 years) elderly long-term care residents who volunteered to participate. In 2004 and 2006 the MUST and our questionnaire, in 2008 the nutritionDay questionnaire was used.

RESULTS

Risk of malnutrition is high (26.8-77.0%) in elderly residents of social homes. Assessment of nutritional status is done four times a year or even more rarely in 29.5% of the residents. Nutritional status is multifactorial; it is influenced by immobility, fever, etc. Loss of appetite and swallowing difficulties are 2.5-fold, limited mobility, dementia and missing teeth are almost two-fold (1.6-1.7) more frequent in the group of high risk elderly than in the elderly living in social homes. Neurological diseases are in a significant correlation with nutritional status. Incidence of neurological diseases increased significantly in the last years.

CONCLUSION

Nutritional rehabilitation does not end with screening the nutritional status, moreover, it begins with that. Individual diet has to follow the determination of personal nutritional guidelines.