Nutritional risk in outpatients of a geriatric neuropsychiatry clinic

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There are few published studies investigating the nutritional status of elderly individuals with psychiatric disorders. This study aims to describe the nutritional status of elderly patients from a neuropsychiatry outpatient clinic, investigating their nutritional status according to the type of psychiatric diagnostic, specifically Alzheimer's disease (AD), depression (DEP), and other types of dementia (OTD).METHODS: Elderly individuals from two outpatient clinics (n= 217) were evaluated for nutritional risk (using a validated tool) and for some anthropometric and biochemical measurements. RESULTS: We found a high prevalence of nutritional risk in the sample (about 60%). The major dietary problems found were low daily meal frequency and the low daily intake of water. Biochemical analyses indicated blood glucose and total cholesterol to be above the reference values, while hemoglobin and vitamin D were below the reference values. Anthropometric measurements did not differ between the groups with different psychiatric diagnostics, except for calf circumference, which showed to be lower in the OTD group (p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Although we found a high prevalence of nutritional risk, the differences between the diagnostic groups were very subtle. The nutritional risk is certainly associated with inadequate eating habits. It is necessary to seek strategies to improve the diet and other lifestyle factors in geriatric neuropsychiatry, in order to mitigate the negative outcomes brought about by the diseases.