Altered Eating Attitudes in Nursing Home Residents and Its Relationship with their Cognitive and Nutritional Status.

BACKGROUND: although eating disorders are usually linked to young adolescents, these mental disorders can also appear in the elderly, especially in those living in nursing homes, which might be associated or not with the cognitive decline; however, there are few data regarding elderly subjects.

OBJECTIVES: the objective of the present work was to evaluate the presence of abnormal eating attitudes in nursing home residents and its relation with several cognitive, nutritional and psychological factors that could be influencing their nutritional state.

DESIGN AND SETTING: a observational experimental study was carried out at several nursing homes of Murcia, Spain.

SUBJECTS: 139 nursing home residents.

METHODS: EAT-26 test was used to screen classic eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia). Blandford's scale was employed to determine aversive eating attitudes. Moreover, subjective appetite sensations, body image perception, nutritional (MNA and diet composition) and biochemical data were also evaluated.

RESULTS: 33% of the subjects had malnutrition. No subject showed symptoms of anorexia or bulimia; however, subjects with cognitive decline frequently showed aversive feeding behaviours (21.6%). Albumin values were significantly lower in subjects with cognitive impairment.

CONCLUSIONS: our data showed a clear relation between cognitive impairment and altered eating attitudes, which was reflected by both biochemical (albumin) and nutritional parameters, while no classic eating disorder was observed in residents with normal cognitive-status. These data confirm the need to strengthen our efforts towards maintaining the nutritional status of the subjects with cognitive impairment.