Rea, J;
Walters, K;
Avgerinou, C;
(2019)
How effective is nutrition education aiming to prevent or treat malnutrition in community‑dwelling older adults? A systematic review.
European Geriatric Medicine
, 10
pp. 339-359.
10.1007/s41999-019-00172-6.
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Abstract
Background: While malnutrition is associated with adverse health outcomes in older adults, little is known about the effectiveness of nutrition education. This systematic review examines the evidence for educational interventions to improve nutritional and other health-related outcomes in community-dwelling older people. Methods: Systematic searches of three databases (Embase, Medline and CINAHL) were conducted. Studies testing educational interventions targeting older adults (mean age ≥ 60 years) or their caregivers were eligible for inclusion. Two authors independently assessed trial eligibility, risk of bias and extracted data. Study heterogeneity was high precluding meta-analysis, therefore a narrative synthesis was conducted. Results: Nine articles reporting on eight studies (n=7 trials; 1 pre-post intervention study) met inclusion criteria. There was considerable variability in the format of educational interventions. Nutrition education was either generic or personalised and the intensity was variable (1-6 sessions). We found some evidence (in 5/8 studies) that nutrition education may improve nutrition-related outcomes. Nutrition education involving caregivers was found to reduce nutritional risk in one study, and nutritional counselling following discharge from hospital was found to reduce the risk of readmission in another study. However, the overall quality of the studies was hampered by poor methodology, low sample size and attrition bias, and results need to be interpreted with caution. Conclusions: Educational interventions may have potential to improve malnutrition-related outcomes in older people, but the strength of evidence is poor. More robust, larger studies are needed to ascertain the effectiveness of nutritional education interventions in this population.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | How effective is nutrition education aiming to prevent or treat malnutrition in community‑dwelling older adults? A systematic review |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s41999-019-00172-6 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-019-00172-6 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Malnutrition, nutrition education, older adults, community, systematic review. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10069437 |
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