EFFECTS OF ROUTINE VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTATION IN THE AGED

A bstract : A study was made in a nursing home of the effects of multivitamin therapy on appetite and weight (during periods varying from sixty to one hundred and ten days) in 59 patients (18 males and 41 females), of whom 55 were over 65 years of age. None of them manifested symptoms of vitamin deficiency. Approximately half of the patients responded with an increase in weight, and approximately half with an increase in appetite. An increase in appetite was more common in cases of appetite deficiency. When there was an improvement in appetite (and help for feeding was available), a gain in weight usually occurred. When there was no increase in appetite, there was little gain in weight unless the appetite was good before vitamin administration. Attention to feeding procedures apparently was a factor in producing some of the weight gain. There is no reliable method for predicting the outcome of multivitamin therapy when the indications for such treatment are not specific deficiency states.