Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Evaluation of Colorectal Cancer Risk and Prevalence by Stool DNA Integrity Detection
Published on: June 8, 2020
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Dehydration Among Nursing Home Residents: A Systematic Review
Simone J C Paulis1, Irma H J Everink1, Ruud J G Halfens1
1Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Objectives:
To provide an overview of the prevalence rates and risk factors of dehydration among nursing home residents.
Design:
Systematic literature review.
Setting:
Nursing homes.
Participants:
Nursing home residents or institutionalized long-term care residents.
Measurements:
A systematic literature review was executed on March 15, 2018, using the databases PubMed, CINAHL, and EMBASE to retrieve all articles focused on the prevalence rates and risk factors for acute and chronic dehydration. Studies were included if the target population involved nursing home residents or institutionalized long-term care residents.
Results:
Nineteen studies were included in this systematic review. Prevalence rates of dehydration varied between 0.8% and 38.5% and were measured using different methods. Furthermore, 49 potential risk factors for dehydration were identified. Of the 12 potential risk factors that were investigated in more than 1 study, cognitive impairment and fever were significantly associated with dehydration among nursing home residents.
Conclusions/Implications:
Dehydration is a relevant and frequently occurring problem among nursing home residents. This systematic review shows that a wide variety of methods are used to assess dehydration and that it is often unclear which type of dehydration (chronic or acute) is measured. This makes it difficult to compare prevalence rates among studies. Moreover, only 2 of 49 potential risk factors (fever and cognitive impairment) were more than once significantly associated with dehydration in the respective studies. Most of the other risk factors were assessed by only 1 study or showed inconsistent results. Therefore, more research into dehydration among nursing home residents is needed.
Related Concept Videos
Factors Affecting the Risk of Infection
The integrity and count of the white blood cells help the body resist pathogens and fight infection. When impaired, it reduces the body's resistance to pathogens. The acidic pH levels of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary tracts, and skin...
Dehydration Synthesis
Dehydration synthesis (also called a condensation reaction) is the chemical process in which two molecules covalently link together to form a new molecule, along with the release of a water molecule. Many physiologically important compounds form by dehydration synthesis reactions, such as complex carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, and RNA.
Synthesis of carbohydrates
Sugar molecules are covalently linked together by dehydration synthesis. During the reaction, the hydroxyl (-OH) group from...
Prevalence and Incidence
Prevalence indicates the proportion of individuals in a population who have a specific disease or health...
Review and Preview
Percentiles are a type of fractile that partition data into...
Review and Preview
Acid-Catalyzed Dehydration of Alcohols to Alkenes

