Background: Dysphagic patients are not always able to meet their energy, micro and macronutrients needs for various causes and therefore are at high risk of malnutrition. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness on satisfaction of the meal (by a 10-cm visuo-analogical scale), food intake (by visual estimation of food waste), nutritional status (anthropometric measures, mini nutritional assessment [MNA], vitamin D, B12, folic acid), functional (handgrip) and blood chemistry metabolic parameters of a tailored texture-modified sous-vide cooking meals (TTMSVC), well balanced in macro and micronutrients, in elderly women suffering from oropharyngeal dysphagia at long-term care facilities.
Methods: A 12-week intervention study was conducted on female elderly subjects affected by oropharyngeal dysphagia of level 3-5. The treated group received TTMSVC with the consistencies standardized using viscosimeter (5000-10000 mP/s). The control group maintained pureed hospital diet.
Results: 50 subjects, 25 in treatment group and 25 in control group, with mean±SD age 89.12±4.18 and mini mental state examination (MMSE) 20.58±1.63 were enrolled. The treatment and control groups were similar at baseline. The changes over time between the two groups showed significant differences for food intake, meal appreciation, Body Mass Index (BMI), calf circumference, arm circumference, MNA, prealbumin, albumin, folic acid, vitamin D, ionized calcium, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), handgrip. Significant positive correlations were observed in the treatment group between the meal appreciation and prealbumin and vitamin D.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that elderly dysphagic women at long-term care facilities can eat better and increase nutritional status by eating 12-week tailored appealing TTMSVC.