Nutritional status of elderly female nursing home residents; the effect of supplementation with a physiological dose of water-soluble vitamins.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the nutritional status of female elderly nursing home residents and to study the effect of dietary supplementation with a physiological dose of water-soluble vitamins.

DESIGN

Single-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled intervention trial. Daily consumed supplement consisted of fortified fruit juice containing 50 g carbohydrate and 50% of the daily dietary recommendations of water-soluble vitamins. Regular fruit juice was used as placebo. Dietary intake assessment at baseline. Fasting blood sample, anthropometric measurements and medical record at baseline and after 4 and 12 weeks of supplementation.

SETTING

Three nursing homes within 40 km of the coordination centre (Department of Human Nutrition, Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands).

SUBJECTS

Forty-two female nursing home residents aged 60 years and older, in relatively stable health condition, at least 3 months resident at baseline. In each nursing home, 14 subjects were randomly assigned to the supplement or control group.

INTERVENTIONS

Twelve weeks of supplementation.

RESULTS

Participants had a poor nutritional status. Dietary supplementation significantly improved the concentrations of thiamin pyrophosphate and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, increased body weight and decreased serum homocysteine concentration in the supplement group. Plasma vitamin C levels were significantly increased in both supplement and control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Even in this heterogeneous population of female nursing home elderly it is possible to improve the nutritional status through dietary intervention with a physiological dose of water-soluble vitamins.