The relationship between difficulties in feeding oneself and loss of weight in nursing-home patients with dementia

Objective: to investigate the cause of unintentional weight loss in demented nursing-home patients. Design: body weight was measured at 3-month intervals and related to the primary diagnosis, problems in feeding oneself and other factors influencing food intake. Setting: a Dutch nursing home. Subjects: 250 resident patients and 264 new and consecutively admitted patients above the age of 65. Results: for both demented and non-demented nursing-home patients, a strong relationship exists between weight loss and choosing food, bringing it to the mouth and chewing: the greater these difficulties, the lower the body weight. This relationship was more evident in existing residents than in newly admitted patients. Body weight was not well correlated with the diagnosis of dementia but was correlated with poor appetite and immobility. Conclusion: disabilities resulting from dementia can lead to an inadequate intake of food and thus to weight loss in nursing-home residents.