Nutritional status, dietary quality and eating disturbance issues among people with dementia in Vietnam: evidence of a cross-sectional study
Date
2024
Authors
Le, H.T.
Dang, A.K.
Le, L.T.T.
Nguyen, H.T.T.
Nguyen, G.T.
Nguyen, H.T.T.
Phan, H.B.T.
Nguyen, T.A.
Robinson, L.
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Journal article
Citation
Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 2024; 43(1):1-10
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Abstract
Background: Due to cognitive impairments, people with dementia (PWD) often have difficulties in eating and drinking. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status, dietary quality and eating disturbance issues among PWD in Vietnam.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at the Vietnamese National Geriatric Hospital from April to December 2022. We used Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) to classify the severity levels of dementia. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), 24-hour recall, eating disturbance questionnaires, and anthropometric indicators were used to evaluate the nutritional status, dietary quality, and eating disorders of study subjects.
Results: Overall, among 63 study participants, 74.6 per cent of PWD were at risk of or having malnutrition. By dementia classification according to MMSE scale, people with moderate and severe dementia accounted for 53.3 per cent of those who met the recommended energy levels, compared to 42.4 per cent of people with mild dementia and normal people. In the above two groups, around three per cent of participants reached the recommended amount of fibre. Calcium (50–70%), vitamin A (80–90%), and D (90%) were found to be the most severe deficiency forms of minerals and vitamins in both male and female participants. The majority of participants (90.5%) had at least one form of eating disorders with the most frequent issue being appetite changes (76.2%) and swallowing issues (50.8%).
Conclusions: PWD in our sample frequently experienced malnutrition, a lack of essential nutrients, difficulties swallowing, changes in eating habits and appetite. It is neccesary to early screen and assess nutritional status and swallowing disturbance in PWD, and instruct their caregivers to prepare nutritious meals for them.
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Data source: Supplementary material, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-024-00570-y
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Copyright 2024 The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.)