Associations between malnutrition, poor general health and oral dryness in hospitalized elderly patients

Objective: to obtain information about the possible relationship between symptoms and signs of oral dryness and malnutrition/poor general health in hospitalized older people. Design: a cross-sectional clinical investigation with measurements of unstimulated salivary flow rates (USFR), stimulated sal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Age and ageing 1998-03, Vol.27 (2), p.123-128
Main Authors: DORMENVAL, VALÉRIE, BUDTZ-JØRGENSEN, EJVIND, MOJON, PHILIPPE, BRUYÈRE, ANDRÉ, RAPIN, CHARLES-HENRI
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Appetite
Body fluids
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Elderly people
Factors
Female
Health
Health Status
Hospitalization
Humans
Male
Malnutrition
Malnutrition - complications
Malnutrition - diagnosis
Mouth
Nutrition Assessment
old age
Older people
Oral health
Relationship
Saliva - metabolism
salivary secretion
Serum Albumin
Surveys and Questionnaires
xerostomia
Xerostomia - complications
Xerostomia - diagnosis
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Summary:Objective: to obtain information about the possible relationship between symptoms and signs of oral dryness and malnutrition/poor general health in hospitalized older people. Design: a cross-sectional clinical investigation with measurements of unstimulated salivary flow rates (USFR), stimulated salivary flow rates (SSFR), nutritional status, serum albumin concentration and an evaluation of symptoms of oral dryness and loss of appetite by a questionnaire. Subjects and methods: a cohort of 99 elderly, non-psychiatric patients hospitalized for medical reasons; collection of demographic and health data from medical files, collection of USFR and SSFR, measurements of body mass index (BMI), lean body mass, fat body mass, serum albumin concentration; completion of a questionnaire related to symptoms of oral dryness and the patients' appreciation of their nutritional status. Main outcome measures: SSFR and USFR. Results: mean age of the 99 patients was 82.5 ± 4.0 years. Anthropometric examinations indicated malnutrition of severe or intermediate degree in about 50% while 46% showed moderately and 40% severely reduced albumin. Loss of appetite was present in 54% and 51% complained of oral dryness; 17% had an USFR
ISSN:0002-0729
1468-2834
DOI:10.1093/ageing/27.2.123