Institutional factors associated with the nutritional status of residents from 10 German nursing homes (ErnSTES study).

OBJECTIVES: In nursing homes malnutrition among residents is widespread. Because residents place part of their personal freedom of choice into institutional hands, institution-specific factors may influence nutritional status of residents.

DESIGN: Multi-centre cross-sectional study.

SETTING: 10 nation-wide German nursing homes.

PARTICIPANTS: 714 exclusively orally fed residents (aged 65 years and older, not in final weeks of life).

MEASUREMENTS: Participants' characteristics (e. g. gender, age, level of care, dementia diagnosis), body mass index (BMI), mini nutritional assessment (MNA), energy intake (3-day dietary record, BLS II.3), and selected institution-specific factors (size of institution, daily rate for food supply, number of residents per care staff member). Metric data are given as median (P25, P75).

RESULTS: 11 % of residents (81 % female, 85 (81, 91) years) had a BMI <20 kg/m2 (n=658). According to MNA, 10 % of the residents were malnourished (n=650). Capacity of institutions was 116 (56, 139) beds, care staff ratio was 4.1 (3.5, 4.2) residents per care person (mean over all care levels), and daily food budget was 4.45 (4.10, 4.71) Euro/d. Low daily food budget was associated with a higher risk for a BMI <20 kg/m2 (OR 3.30 [95 %CI 1.70-6.42]). Higher food budget also decreased malnutrition risk (OR 0.66 [0.46-0.95]) according to MNA. Residents' mean energy intake was 6.1 (5.2, 7.1; n=565) MJ/day in women and 7.1 (6.2, 8.2; n=132) MJ/day in men. Intake was higher with small facility size, higher food budget, and lower care staff ratio (P <0.05).

CONCLUSION: The institutional environment affects the nutritional status of nursing home residents as an independent risk factor. The results suggest promotion of small facilities and the provision of more care staff and more financial resources for food in the structural design of residential homes.