Division of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan.
Department of Community Dentistry & Gerodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Gerontology. 2021;67(2):168-176. doi: 10.1159/000511912. Epub 2021 Jan 15.
To date, there have been few guidelines proposed for adjustment of the food consistency, particularly to match the oral function of older adults, which will guide clinicians and caregivers in appropriately modifying food.
We investigated how oral, swallowing, and cognitive conditions of older adults who required daily nursing care in a nursing home were associated with different dietary food consistencies.
Clinical examinations to record dentition status, swallowing, and cognitive functions were performed, and the feeding status, including the food consistencies and need for assistance at lunchtime, was evaluated in 37 older residents in nursing homes. The swallowing function was assessed by performing a modified water-swallowing test, and food swallowing was tested using pudding and rice crackers. The χ2 test was used to determine the relationships among the parameters.
No participants were able to take cooked rice, nor regular and soft side dishes. There was no significant relationship between dentition status and feeding status. Of the participants, 95% ate pudding without any problems and 49% ate rice crackers without any signs of swallowing difficulty such as coughing or stopping chewing. There was a significant relationship between the food test score using a rice cracker and the level of food consistencies, and between the same test score and the level of mealtime assistance, whereby the better the score of the food test using a rice cracker, the better was the level of food consistencies including use of a thickening agent and the better was the level of mealtime assistance.
The results strongly suggest that the food test using a rice cracker was associated with the level of food consistency and mealtime assistance for older adults in nursing homes.
迄今为止，针对食物质地的调整，尤其是与老年人口腔功能相匹配的食物质地调整，仅有少数指南提出，这为临床医生和护理人员提供了适当调整食物质地的指导。
我们旨在研究养老院中需要日常护理的老年人的口腔、吞咽和认知状况与不同的饮食质地之间的关系。
对 37 名养老院老年人进行临床检查，记录牙齿状况、吞咽和认知功能，并评估其喂养状况，包括午餐时的食物质地和需要协助的情况。吞咽功能通过改良饮水试验进行评估，食物吞咽通过布丁和米饼进行测试。采用 χ2 检验确定参数之间的关系。
没有参与者能够食用煮熟的米饭或常规的软菜。牙齿状况与喂养状况之间没有显著关系。95%的参与者吃布丁没有任何问题，49%的参与者吃米饼没有任何吞咽困难的迹象，如咳嗽或停止咀嚼。用米饼进行食物测试的得分与食物质地的级别之间存在显著关系，与用餐协助的级别之间也存在显著关系，即米饼食物测试得分越高，使用增稠剂的食物质地级别越高，用餐协助级别越高。
研究结果强烈表明，用米饼进行的食物测试与养老院老年人的食物质地级别和用餐协助级别密切相关。
