Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of residents with dementia from a long-term care institutions or a day-care center in Central Taiwan and to identify the risk factors associated with poor nutrition in these patients.
Methods: With a convenience sampling design, the study recruited 60 eldelry persons with dementia from a long-term institution and another 60 patients with dementia from a local day-care center to serve as subjects. Subjects must be 65 years or older, medically confirmed having dementia, have been a resident of the institution or an attendant of the center for 30 days or more, be able to communicate verbally and without acute infection or hospitalization. A structured questionnaire elcited personal data, disease history and answers to questions in the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Subjects were also measured for weight, height, mid-arm circumference and calf circumference. Biochemical data were obtained from routine measurements maintained by the institutions. An institutional review board approved the study protocol. Writen consents were obtained from their legal guardians. Nutritional status of each subject was evaluated with two Taiwanese-specific versions of the MNA (TI and TII). Results were analyzed with SPSS 12.0 Statistical Software. Statistical significance was evaluated at alpha=0.05.
Results: Both versions of the MNA can grade the nutritional status of these dementiated patients effectively and produced very comparable results. All but one of the instutionalized patients were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition whereas approximately 40% of day-care center attendants were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. Regresion analyses suggest that recent weight loss, anthropometric status and serum albumin were the major variables associated with the nutritional status of these patients. The nutritional status of the dementiated patients is related to the severity of the disease.
Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that the nutritional status of patients with dementia in the long-term care is very poor. Routine monitoring and timely intervention are important steps to reduce the development of nutritional deficiency in dementiated patients.
