Nutritional status is associated with the return home in a long‐term care health facility

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine the association between nutritional status and the return home of older people living in a long‐term care health facility (LCHF).MethodsA nested case control study was performed in 116 people ≥65 years of age in a single LCHF. Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA‐SF) and activities of daily living by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). The return home, duration of rehabilitation, and the family wanting the patient to return home were obtained from clinical records. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess whether malnutrition had independent effects on the return home.ResultsThe participants included 36 males and 80 females with a mean age of 82 years. Thirty‐seven people returned home while 79 did not. The MNA‐SF showed that 80 subjects were malnourished. Sixty‐six of the participants received rehabilitation for longer than 1 hour per week, while 50 received rehabilitation for <1 hour. The proportion of subjects with malnutrition who returned home was significantly lower (P = .003) than in participants who did not return home. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that malnutrition (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.08‐0.65; P = .006), total FIM score (AOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01‐1.06; P = .012), and the family wanting the patient to return home (AOR, 9.46; 95% CI, 3.19‐28.12; P < .001) were independently associated with the return home.ConclusionsNutritional status is associated with the return home in older people living in LCHF.

The Impact of Nutritional Status and Body Mass Index on Rehabilitation Outcomes in Patients Receiving Home-Based Medical Care

“…21 About 70% of older people living in long term care facilities are malnourished; malnutrition, and total FIM score, were independently associated with the time taken to return home. 22 Reports from literature confirm the findings of this study, demonstrating the benefits of nutritional support on rehabilitation outcomes in patients in the hospital and home care setting.…”

Determination of the cut-off point of the Functional Independence Measure as a predictor of adverse events in patients with acute stroke

“…4 During the early period of a patient's stay in a neurointensive care unit (neuro-ICU) or stroke care unit (SCU) after acute stroke onset, nutritional management is reportedly critical to prevent malnutrition and poor functional recovery. 5,6 Another study also showed that proper energy intake is independently associated with improvement in ADL 6 and reduction in the mortality rate. 7 However, the proper amount of energy to prevent adverse events during the early period after stroke has not been studied.…”