Nutritional status of elderly female nursing home residents; the effect of supplementation with a physiological dose of water-soluble vitamins
1995
Wielen, R.P.J van der | Heereveld, H.A.E.M. van | Groot, C.P.G.M. de | Staveren, W.A. van
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.
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