NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ELDERLY WOMEN WITH DEMENTIA IN GERIATRIC HOSPITAL IN KOREA

Abstract

Korea is rapidly becoming an aged society, and prevalence of dementia is increasing in the elderly, which is 2 to 3 times higher in women. It is a growing interest in health and nutrition of the elderly with dementia. The purpose of this study was to investigate nutritional status of the elderly women with dementia in geriatric hospital in Korea. The subjects of this cross-sectional study were 36 elderly women with dementia in one geriatric hospital in Incheon, Korea. They were divided into two groups by MMSE-DS reference score, 14 subjects (mild dementia group, MiDG) who had more than reference score and 22 subjects (moderate dementia group, MoDG) who had less than reference score. Data were collected with questionnaires in 2016. Dietary intake was surveyed for 3 days with photographing and analyzed using CAN program 4.0. The nutritional status was evaluated by the Korean Dietary Reference Intakes (KDRI) and ratio of each food group's contribution to nutrient intakes. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 20.0. The average BMI of subjects was 20.9 kg/m2, nevertheless, underweight (27.8%) and overweight (25.0%) accounted for over half of them. There were no significant differences in average dietary intakes between MiDG and MoDG. Intakes of total energy, fiber, vitamin D, E, C, B6, thiamin, riboflavin, calcium, potassium, and magnesium were lower compared to KDRI, and intake ratios of vitamin D and magnesium were less than 20% in both groups. The energy and protein intake of subjects were mainly from cereals (63.2%) and meats and fish & shellfish (71.9%). Vitamin A, D, C intake was from vegetables (80.6%), eggs and fish & shellfish (90.0%), and potatoes & starch and vegetables (89.6%), respectively. However, calcium intake from milk and dairy products and iron intake from meats, eggs, fish & shellfish was low at 7.8% and 36.3%, respectively. These results showed that the elderly women with dementia in geriatric hospital have unbalanced nutritional status, and MoDG has inadequate intake of nutrients compared to MiDG. Therefore, it is necessary to plan and manage the meals for improve nutritional status of the elderly with dementia.