Association between indicators of dementia and nutritional status in institutionalised older people

Background and aims. Dementia weakens older people and can lead to malnutrition; therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the association between indicators of dementia and biochemical indicators, anthropometric indicators and food intake in institutionalised older people. Methods. A total of 150 older people of both genders participated in this study. Nutritional status was determined by body mass index and other anthropometric variables, and biochemical indicators were used to analyse the differences between individuals with and without dementia. Energy and nutrient intakes were determined by food records, and dementia was investigated with the Mini‐Mental State Examination. The data were analysed by the chi‐square test, Student’s t‐test and Mann–Whitney tests. Results. Of the 150 individuals studied, 48% were men with a mean age of 73 ± 10 years and 52% were women with a mean age of 80 ± 9 years. Thirty‐six per cent had some degree of malnutrition and 48% presented dementia, which was more prevalent in women (59%). The nutritional status of men and women individuals with and without dementia differed significantly (P < 0.001 for men and women). The only variables that presented a significant difference between individuals with and without dementia were those associated with muscle mass in men. There were no differences in energy and nutrient intakes between individuals with and without dementia except for vitamin C intake, which differed among women (P = 0.032). Conclusion. In the conditions of the present study, dementia was associated with nutritional status, but not with energy and nutrient intakes, suggesting that older people with dementia may have higher nutritional requirements. Implications for practice. Investigation of dementia may contribute to the nutritional status assessment of older people and energy expenditure and immobility should be investigated for a more complete assessment.     

Improving the care of people with dementia in hospital

The Dementia Champions Programme was set up in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, to equip nurses with the skills and knowledge to improve the care of people with dementia in hospital. Nurses who complete the programme are known as dementia champions. This article describes the multi-faceted, educational approach to improving the care of adults with dementia.     

Improving the nutritional status of colorectal surgical and stoma patients

This article describes an initiative to improve the quality of nutritional support and information provision to patients undergoing colorectal surgery and stoma formation. It was identified that several aspects of the established hospital routine and catering system overlooked the specific nutritional needs of this group of patients during the postoperative period. This led to the formation of a multidisciplinary strategy group responsible for focusing on the nutritional needs of both those with new stomas and those undergoing colorectal surgery without stoma formation. To ensure that patients had the opportunity to eat suitable foods at regular intervals, a 'colorectal patients' snackbox' was introduced, together with a strategy for individualized nutritional support and advice before admission and on discharge.     

Food intake and nutritional status of hospitalised older people

de oliveira m.r.m. & leandro‐merhi v.a. (2011) Food intake and nutritional status of hospitalised older people. International Journal of Older People Nursing 6 , 196–200 doi: 10.1111/j.1748‐3743.2010.00227.x Background and aims. Disease is influenced by the nutritional status of the individual. We have assessed the relationship between nutritional status and food intake among recently hospitalised older people. Methods. A cross‐sectional study was undertaken with 240 older people in a hospital that provides care for the public and private healthcare systems. Nutritional status was classified by the MNA (Mini Nutritional Assessment) into: malnourished, risk of malnutrition and without malnutrition. Food intake was estimated by the reported food intake during a typical day. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the medians and the correlation coefficient of Spearman to verify the relationship between the consumption of energy, protein and vitamin C and MNA scores. Results. 33.8% were classified as adequate regarding nutritional status; 37.1% were classified as being at risk of malnutrition and 29.1% were classified as malnourished. The malnourished individuals reported significantly less energy and nutrient intake than those at risk of malnutrition or those without malnutrition (P = 0.001). Not all nutrient intake, just some (iron, cholesterol and fibre), were lower in malnourished people. Conclusions and implications for practice. Deterioration of the nutritional status of older people is accompanied by a reduction in energy and some nutrient intake. The investigation of food intake in older people could provide important information about nutritional risk.     

Nutritional status and health outcomes for older people with dementia living in institutions

AIM: This paper is a report of a study to determine changes over a 3-month period among older people with dementia living in long-term care settings, related to: (1) changes in body mass index, and (2) health outcomes and associated factors. BACKGROUND: Nutritional deficiencies are common problems among older people, but frequently unrecognized, both in long-term care settings and in the community. METHOD: A cross-sectional design with repeated measures of body weights and medical record reviews was adopted. The study was conducted in 2003 in two long-term care facilities for older people with dementia in Taiwan. Fifty-five residents participated in the study. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of the residents were under-nourished (body mass index <18.5). There was a trend toward decreasing body mass index over the 3-month study period. Residents with low body mass index tended to need assistance at mealtimes. Nineteen residents, many receiving naso-gastric tube-feeding, experienced adverse health events during the study period. Dependency in eating was the major factor differentiating residents with normal or low body mass index values, and also in distinguishing those who experienced adverse health outcomes. CONCLUSION: Assessment of eating ability, mode of feeding and measurement of body weight can be used by nurses in long-term care settings for early identification of the nutritional status of older people with dementia.     

Family work with people with dementia

Family interventions (FI) are used where there is a psychotic illness. This article argues for their use in dementia cases. It looks at the example of a family where the father had recently received a diagnosis of Lewy bodies with dementia. The focus is on the process of working with the patient and his close relatives using an adapted FI model.     

微型营养评价精法用于老年痴呆病人营养状况的评价

[目的]探讨微型营养评价精法(MNA-SF)对老年痴呆病人营养状况的评价作用,了解其与传统营养评价指标的相关性.[方法]对67例老年痴呆病人应用MNA-SF、微型营养评价法(MNA)进行营养评价,并且测量人体学指标和实验室指标,分析采用MNA-SF法与MNA法及传统评价指标的相关性.[结果]依据MNA-SF评价结果,营养不良占70.1%,营养正常者占29.9%;MNA-SF法与传统营养评价法中的体重指数、肱三头肌皮褶厚度、上臂肌围、腓肠肌围、血红蛋白、总蛋白、白蛋白等呈显著相关,相关系数在0.371～0.724之间(P<0.01),MNA-SF法与MNA法亦有高度相关性(P<0.01).[结论]老年痴呆病人营养不良的发生率高,MNA-SF法是较MNA法及传统营养评价指标评价老年痴呆病人营养状况有效实用的方法.     

Pain in elderly people with dementia

Aging is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and frontotemporal dementia. These diseases not only impair brain tissues and the nervous system, but also affect patients' verbal and non-verbal communicative ability. It is difficult, for instance, to assess pain in the cognitively impaired elderly because pain perception draws heavily on a patient's subjective interpretation and tolerance level. To seek an effective solution for pain detection in patients with dementia is therefore essential. From a systematic literature review covering the past decade, this paper presents a synopsis of the difficulty of pain assessment in the elderly with cognitive impairment, changes in the academic concept of pain, and explores factors resulting in obstacles to pain recognition. The obstacles to pain assessment derive mainly from three general factors. Firstly, classic definitions of early stage pain are inappropriate when applied to the elderly with cognitive impairment. Secondly, pain indicators are also unclear for this population. Thirdly, pain instruments and informants are ineffective in evaluating elderly patients with varying cognitive levels. To address these obstacles, a sound, multifaceted model of pain assessment for elderly patients with different severities of cognitive impairment is presented. On the basis of the above literature review, multiple methods for detecting aspects of pain in elderly people with cognitive impairment is recommended. To test the feasibility of the multidimensional model of pain assessment, further study is needed.     

Pain assessment in people with dementia

Pain in older adults is very often undertreated, and it may be especially so in older adults with severe dementia. Changes in a patient's ability to communicate verbally present special challenges in treating pain, and unrelieved pain can have serious consequences, including declines in physical function and diminished appetite. The Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) scale has been designed to assess pain in this population by looking at five specific indicators: breathing, vocalization, facial expression, body language, and consolability. A trained nurse or other health care worker can use the scale in less than five minutes of observation. For an online video showing nurses using the PAINAD scale and other pain-assessment tools, go to http://links.lww.com/A251.     

Wandering behaviour in people with dementia

BACKGROUND: Wandering has been described as one of the most challenging behaviours to manage and yet a search of the literature in the last two decades yields only a limited number of papers that specifically studied wandering. AIM: This paper reviews the current literature on wandering in relation to the nature of the phenomenon, attempts to classify the behaviour, the extent of the problem, the profile of those who wander, postulations about its aetiology, and intervention strategies being employed. METHOD: Eight literature databases were searched for the last 40 years up to February 2003 using 'wandering' and 'dementia' as combined keywords. A total of 133 articles was included in the review. FINDINGS: The prevalence of wandering behaviour was difficult to assess and no conclusions could be reached. The typical wanderer depicted in the literature was relatively young in the older population, more cognitively impaired, more likely to be a man, might have experienced sleep problems, had a more active premorbid lifestyle, and used more psychotropic medications. While studies agreed that wanderers are more cognitively impaired, their findings did not necessarily agree on other attributes. Three major approaches, namely the biomedical, psychosocial and person-environment interaction perspectives, in conceptualizing wandering behaviour can be identified from the literature. Medications, activity programmes, behavioural modification and environmental manipulation have been used as interventions but none has so far demonstrated unequivocal effectiveness. CONCLUSION: Knowledge generated through research remains insufficient to explain fully why and when wandering occurs. Variability in how the phenomenon was defined and studied, and the small size of the samples made generalizability of findings difficult. Future research should incorporate a clearer definition of wandering; a specific targeted population with representative sample size; appropriate subject identification strategies; focussed interventions, and better control conditions.     

Factors associated with food intake,nutritional status,and function among nursing home residents with dementia

Declined food intake is prevalent among long-term care (LTC) residents with dementia and associated with deleterious health outcomes. This study explores food intake, nutritional status, and function and its associated factors in LTC residents with dementia. Data from 82 LTC residents with dementia were used in this secondary analysis. The majority of residents were either malnourished or at risk of being malnourished and demonstrated a worse appetite than previously described in the literature. Comorbid illness, depressed mood, and appetite were associated with 37.1% of the variance in food intake over 30 days. Dementia level and appetite were associated with 22.2% of the variance in nutritional status. Food intake and nutritional status were associated with 29.1% of the variance in function. This study also highlights a new demographic that may require extra assistance in combating declined food intake: LTC residents with dementia who reside in a facility that follows restrictive food practices such as a kosher diet. The potential reversibility of factors associated with food intake and nutritional status provides opportunities for intervention.     

Rehabilitation for older people with dementia

It should not be assumed that living with dementia means a complete loss of abilities. However, people with dementia are not always allowed to realise their full potential. The author suggests that person-centred rehabilitation with this patient group can enhance their abilities and help them to acquire new ones.     

Meeting the nutritional needs of patients with dementia in hospital

This is the third article in a series of five focusing on the needs of patients with dementia. It emphasises the importance of good nutritional intake for patients with dementia in hospital care. On busy wards, nutrition is often overlooked in favour of other aspects of care. Nurses' increased knowledge about dementia, assessment of nutritional needs, and personal capabilities can improve patients' experiences and outcomes. Excess dependency and emotional aspects of food refusal are also discussed.     

Addressing the palliative care needs of people with dementia

The palliative care needs of people with dementia have received little attention to date. In the early days of the disorder some drugs may assist with the cognitive and behavioural symptoms. However, as the disease progresses people with dementia become increasingly dependent on carers. Evidence suggests that a palliative care approach from diagnosis is beneficial because it addresses people's emotional needs as well as those of their families and carers.