Objectives: To compare the effects of two nutritional follow-up interventions with regard to preventing short-term deterioration in ADL, and to compare their effects on physical function, emotional health, and health-related quality of life.
Design: Randomized clinical trial with two intervention groups and one control group, and a follow-up period of eight weeks.
Setting: Intervention in the participants' homes after discharge from hospital.
Participants: Inclusion: Malnourished geriatric patients and patients at risk of malnutrition (MNA<24), aged 75 years and older, living at home and alone. Exclusion: Nursing home residents and patients with terminal illnesses or cognitive impairment. Randomization: At discharge, the patients were assigned to one of three groups: 'home visit', 'telephone consultation', or 'control' group.
Intervention: Individually tailored nutritional counselling of the patient and the patient's daily home carer by a clinical dietician one, two, and four weeks after discharge from hospital. The counselling was either in-person at the patients' homes, or by telephone. The control group received no follow-up after discharge.
Measurements: Primary outcome: Change in ADL (Barthel-100 score) at discharge and eight weeks later.
Secondary outcomes: Change in physical performance (handgrip strength, 30-sec. chair stand test, CAS), quality of life and depression measurements (SF-36, Depression List, Geriatric Depression Score), and Avlund mobility-tiredness score (Mob-T).
Results: Two-hundred and eight participants were randomized, 73 to home visits and 68 to telephone consultations. The control group comprised 67 patients. The mean age of the participants was 86.1 years. At eight weeks after discharge, 157 completed the follow-up (home visit 52, telephone consultation 51, and control group 54). The mean age of these patients was 85.8 years. More patients in the home visit group improved or maintained their ADL (96%), compared to the telephone (75%) and control groups (72%), p<0.01. No difference was detected among the groups with regard to physical measurements, health-related quality of life, and emotional health.
Conclusion: Early nutritional follow-up after discharge, performed as home visits, prevents deterioration of ADL in malnourished, independent, geriatric patients who live alone and thereby preserves their independence.