title: Nutritional support for patients with intellectual disability and nutrition/dysphagia disorders in community care.
abstract: Patients with intellectual disability and neurological handicaps associated with swallowing difficulties are vulnerable to dehydration and undernutrition. Some patients are severely undernourished, a condition which is usually associated with recurrent food aspiration and respiratory infections. Underweight patients are usually provided with adequate dietary protein by carers: their low energy intakes reflect inadequate intakes of fat and carbohydrate. Many patients gain weight following the provision of easily assimilated energy-dense fat- and sugar-containing foods. Where these measures fail, the provision of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube may be life-saving. Optimal supervision of patients with severe nutrition/dysphagia problems requires a support network linking carers at home or in community care facilities with the primary health care team and the local district general hospital.
authors.affiliation: Lennox Castle Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McCombie
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dawes
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: McConnell
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Dunnigan
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003153:Community Health Services; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005774:Gastrostomy; D006296:Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012189:Retrospective Studies