Effect of nutritional support based on clinical nursing pathway on nutritional status and quality of life among elderly inpatients with Alzheimer disease

Objective To explore the effect of nutritional support based on clinical nursing pathway on nutritional status and quality of life among elderly inpatients with Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods A total of 101 elderly inpatients with AD who met the criteria of the protocol were consecutively enrolled and randomly divided to study group receiving nutritional support based on clinical nursing pathway for two months (n=51) and control group receiving routine nutritional management for 2 months (n=50). Nutritional risk and quality of life were measured by nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS 2002) and Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease Scale (QOL-AD) respectively before and after nutritional support. Results Baseline data were comparable between the two groups (all P>0.05). After 2-month nutritional support, compared to the control, the incidence of nutritional risk (36.0% vs 17.6%, P=0.037) and undernutrition (26.0% vs 9.8%, P=0.033) decreased significantly in study group. The score of quality of life in study group were significant higher than that of control group (35.73±5.85 vs 30.76±6.14, P=0.023). Conclusion The nutritional support based on clinical nursing pathway is helpful to improve the nutritional status and quality of life in elderly hospitalized patients with AD. Key words: Alzheimer disease; Elderly inpatients; Clinical nursing pathway; Nutritional support; Nutritional risk screening; Quality of life