Adequacy of Descriptive Scales for Reporting Diet Intake in Institutionalized Elderly

Abstract

The specific aim of this study was to determine the accuracy with which nursing home staff can use descriptive scales to evaluate the dietary intake of residents. The dietary intake of 50 randomly selected subjects was observed for 3 consecutive days and the mean intake of calories, protein and vitamin C was calculated. Licensed practical nurses (LPN) and nurse aides (NA) rated the adequacy of each residents' nutritional intake using 3-scales (Gosnell's 1973 general nutrition scale; protein and vitamin C intake scales). The percent agreement between staff rating of diet intake and the mean diet intake ranged from 22% to 44%. Reliability between LPN and NA ratings was low. The validity of the scales as determined by percent agreement between actual observed/calculated intake and rating scales was also less than acceptable. Interestingly, staff tended to rate diet intake as less favorable than it actually was observed to be. This error in rating may be useful since staff are more likely to attend to the nut...