Nutritional status after short-term dietary supplementation in hospitalized malnourished geriatric patients.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the evolution of different parameters of the nutritional status after short-term oral protein-energy supplementation in moderately malnourished geriatric patients.


METHODS
Seventeen hospitalized malnourished elderly patients and 12 healthy adults received dietary supplements for 10 days. A group of six malnourished elderly subjects served as controls. Spontaneous oral intakes, biological and biophysical markers of the nutritional status were measured. Fat-free mass (FFM) was assessed using Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), bio-impedance analysis (BIA) and anthropometry.


RESULTS
In elderly subjects, the supplementation significantly increased both dietary intake (energy +32%, protein +65%) and FFM (+1.3 kg, P<0.001) as assessed using DXA. BIA and anthropometric data correlated with DXA measurements in the elderly (BIA: r=0.68--0.80, anthropometry: r=0.80--0.89), but failed to reflect accurately the changes measured in FFM. Supplementation had no notable effect on biological markers in any of the groups. IGF-I and hand-grip strength were not significantly influenced by the supplementation despite trends towards an improvement.


CONCLUSIONS
Monitoring short-term changes in nutritional status in malnourished elderly individuals is a problem in routine clinical management. Our data put in the limelight the changes in IGF-I values related to dietary supplementation, and, chiefly, suggest a prime role for the assessment of dietary intake and FFM, as assessed by DXA, as indicators of short-term efficacy of refeeding. Nevertheless larger studies are necessary to confirm the clinical and prognostic significance of the changes.
Bos
C
C
INRA, Unité de Physiologie de la Nutrition et du Comportement alimentaire, INAPG, 16 rue Claude Bernard, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France.
Benamouzig
R
R
Bruhat
A
A
Roux
C
C
Valensi
P
P
Ferrière
F
F
Tomé
D
D
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D018737:Hand Strength; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
D004044:Dietary Proteins