Lee Kyoung Min, Song Jun-Ah
Department of Nursing, DongKang University, Gwangju, South Korea.
College of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
J Clin Nurs. 2015 Jun;24(11-12):1707-17. doi: 10.1111/jocn.12777. Epub 2015 Jan 26.
To explore the degree of eating ability in people with dementia and identify what factors affect their eating ability.
Appropriate food consumption is important to human life. Although eating difficulties are common among people with dementia, little is known about what factors might influence their eating ability.
Descriptive, cross-sectional study.
A total of 149 people with dementia residing in nursing facilities in Seoul or the Gyeonggi area of Korea were evaluated using the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination, Korean Activities of Daily Living Scale and Eating Behaviour Scale. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.
The participants showed a moderate level of dependency with respect to eating ability and were most dependent on the use of utensils. There were significant differences in eating ability according to general characteristics such as duration of residence, duration of illness, degree of visual impairment, eating place, and diet type. The eating ability of the participants was significantly correlated with cognitive function and physical function. Cognitive function, physical function, duration of illness, eating place (living room or dining room), and diet type (soft or liquid) significantly predicted eating ability in people with dementia.
The findings of this study suggest that it is necessary to thoroughly assess the eating ability of people with dementia and to develop appropriate training programs to maintain or improve their remaining eating ability. The creation of a pleasurable physical and social environment for eating might also be helpful.
These findings would be able to serve a useful basis in the development of materials for nursing intervention programs for people with dementia during mealtimes by improving the techniques and care qualities of nursing caregivers.
探讨痴呆症患者的进食能力程度，并确定哪些因素会影响他们的进食能力。
适当的食物摄入对人类生活很重要。尽管进食困难在痴呆症患者中很常见，但对于可能影响他们进食能力的因素却知之甚少。
描述性横断面研究。
使用韩国简易精神状态检查表、韩国日常生活活动量表和进食行为量表对居住在韩国首尔或京畿道地区护理机构的149名痴呆症患者进行评估。数据采用描述性统计、单因素方差分析、Pearson相关系数和多元回归分析。
参与者在进食能力方面表现出中等程度的依赖，并且在使用餐具方面依赖程度最高。根据居住时间、患病时间、视力损害程度、进食地点和饮食类型等一般特征，进食能力存在显著差异。参与者的进食能力与认知功能和身体功能显著相关。认知功能、身体功能、患病时间、进食地点（客厅或餐厅）和饮食类型（软食或流食）显著预测了痴呆症患者的进食能力。
本研究结果表明，有必要全面评估痴呆症患者的进食能力，并制定适当的培训计划以维持或提高他们剩余的进食能力。营造一个愉悦的进食物理和社交环境可能也会有所帮助。
这些发现将能够通过提高护理人员的技术和护理质量，为开发痴呆症患者用餐时间护理干预计划的材料提供有用的基础。
