Nutritional status and duration of overnight fast among elderly residents in municipal nursing homes in Oslo
Original version
Eide, H. D., Aukner, C., & Iversen, P. O. Nutritional status and duration of overnight fast among elderly residents in municipal nursing homes in Oslo. Vård i Norden, 33(1).Abstract
Aim: To examine the duration of overnight fast and the significance of having an overnight fast below or above 11 hrs with respect tonutritional status among elderly nursing home residents.Background: Elderly nursing home residents are in high risk of malnutrition. In Norway it is recommended that the overnight fast should notexceed 11 hrs for elderly nursing home residents.Methods: Overnight fast and nutritional status was examined for 342 long-term nursing home residents. Nutritional status was evaluated bythe Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool, body mass index (BMI), weight loss during the last 3-6 months, triceps skinfold thickness, upperarm muscle circumference, and hand-grip strength.Findings: For 98.5% of the participants the overnight fast was > 11 hrs. Median overnight fast was 15 hrs. Among the participants for whomthe overnight fast exceeded 11 hrs, 35.6% were in middle or high risk of malnutrition, and 20% were underweight with BMI < 20 kg/m2.No differences in overnight fast were observed between the different categories of nutritional status in this group.Conclusion: For many participants the overnight fast exceeded recommended length. Future studies should further examine the significanceof having an overnight fast below or above 11 hrs with respect to nutritional status for elderly nursing home residents.