Malnutrition in the elderly with dementia: attention to advanced stages

• Autor(a) principal: Rossin,Priscila Cansian
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Degiovanni,Patricia Viganó Contri, Moriguti,Júlio Cesar
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Geriatrics, Gerontology and Aging (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://ggaging.com/details/67
• topic: aged; dementia; nutritional status; malnutrition.

<p><b>OBJECTIVE:</b> To characterize the nutritional status of elderly people with dementia at different stages of the disease and to identify factors associated with malnutrition in this group.<br> <b>METHODS:</b> Cross-sectional observational study with 92 elderly demented in various stages of the disease according to the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR: 1-3). Demographic, clinical and anthropometric data, as well as laboratory tests related to nutritional status were evaluated; the nutritional diagnosis was determined using a combination of laboratory and anthropometric measurements.<br> <b>RESULTS:</b> Of the total, 64.1% were female and the mean age of the group was 80.2 ± 6.8 years. According to nutritional status, 52.1% of the patients were classified as undernourished, being found significant differences between the anthropometric measures and the groups. It was observed that elderly with moderate and advanced dementia had higher risk of malnutrition than elderly with dementia an initial stage (p = 0.04); the elderly with history of unintentional weight loss presented three times greater chance of developing malnutrition.<br> <b>CONCLUSION:</b> The malnutrition was identified in more than half of elderly people with dementia; the advanced cognitive impairment and recent weight loss are directly associated with the injury of the nutritional status of this group of elderly.</p>