Effects of oral functional training for nutritional improvement in Japanese older people requiring long-term care

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of oral functional training and nutrient supplements to improve the nutrition of malnourished elderly people in a nursing home.

Malnutrition is a frequent problem in the elderly requiring long-tem care; however, it is not clear whether oral functional training can be effective to improve nutrition.

Fourteen subjects of 82 residents (mean age 85.7+or-6.2 years) in a nursing home, who had a serum albumin level of

In the supplement group, serum albumin was 3.44+/- 0.36 g/dl at the start of the study (before intervention) and 3.24+/- 0.45 g/dl at 4 months after intervention. In the oral training plus supplement group, it was 3.56+/- 0.22 g/dl before intervention and significantly increased to 3.70+/- 0.33 g/dl after intervention (p<0.05: Wilcoxon signed-rank test).

Nutritional supplements alone were not adequate, but with oral functional training to maintain and improve feeding function, nutritional improvement in the elderly could be observed.