P1‐378: Cognitive Function, Health‐Related Lifestyle, and Dietary Habit Score of The Elderly with Dementia Using Daytime Care Centers in Korea

It has been reported that low cognitive function of the elderly with dementia tends to change dietary behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive function, health-related lifestyle, and dietary habit score of the elderly with dementia using daytime care centers in Korea. This cross-sectional study was conducted using questionnaires by an investigator-based interview to elderly and guardian in 2015. The subjects were 40 elderly with dementia (men:women=14:26) using daytime care centers in Korea. The anthropometric characteristics of subjects were measured. Mini-Mental State Examination-Dementia Screening (MMSE-DS) was examined to assess cognitive function. The higher score of MMSE-DS was indicative of better cognitive function. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0. for Windows. The average of age and height of elderly men were 78.2 years and 160.7㎝ and those of elderly women were 80.3 years and 147.1㎝, respectively. The percentage of the overweight and obesity (BMI≥23) in the elderly was 62.5% and all the subjects have lived with family (average 2.0 persons). Total score of MMSE-DS was 18.1 points and there was no significant difference by sex, but the score of judgement and abstract thinking in elderly women were significantly higher than those of elderly men (p<0.05). The frequency of non-drinking alcohol, non-smoking, and non-drinking coffee were 82.5%, 97.5%, and 52.5%, respectively and there were no significant differences in MMSE-DS scores according to drinking alcohol, smoking, and drinking coffee. There was no significant correlation between MMSE-DE score and dietary habit score. The scores of total dietary habit (p<0.05), eating fruit (p<0.05), and avoiding fried food (p<0.01) of elderly men were significantly higher compared to elderly women. However, the average dietary habit score of eating fast, choosing fish than meat, eating soybean food and eating fruit were low in both elderly men and women. These results show that health-related lifestyle of the elderly with dementia was not bad, whereas they had poor dietary habit score. Therefore, appropriate nutrition education about meals with diverse food and eating speed is needed to family or guardian as well as elderly with dementia in Korea.