Evaluating the impact of modified care meals on the quality of life in older adults with chewing disorders during early stages of frailty

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate whether the intervention of modified care meals can improve oral health, nutritional status, quality of life, and meal satisfaction.

Design: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) study.

Setting: This study enrolled at the outpatient clinic in a certain regional hospital in the eastern Taiwan as the research subjects.

Participants: The study collected the data using single-blind design, and enrolled 60 research subjects of older adults.

Interventions: The experimental group received the modified care meals.

Main outcome measure: This study observed the chewing functional status, oral health functional status, nutritional status, oral health quality of life, and meal satisfaction of the two groups before the intervention and at Week 6 and Week 12 after the intervention to analyze the effectiveness of the intervention scheme.

Analysis: This study used Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) to analyze the effectiveness indicators.

Results: After the intervention of the 12-week modified care meals, 30 subjects in each of the experimental group and control group completed the study, with a zero-attrition rate.

Gee analysis results: Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) (p-value <0.05(T1); p-value = 0.071(T2)); Mini Nutritional Assessment-short form (MNA-SF) (p-value <0.001(T1); p-value = 0.05(T2)); Taiwan Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) (p-value <0.001(T1); p-value <0.001(T2)); Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) (p-value <0.001(T1); p-value <0.001(T2)); meal satisfaction (p-value <0.001(T1); p-value <0.001(T2)) all reached statistically significant differences.

Conclusions and implications: This study found that poor oral health management and chewing functional abnormalities have negative effects on the meal intake of the older adults. The modified care meal manual improved the oral quality of life and meal satisfaction of the older adults.

Keywords: Chewing disorders; Meal satisfaction; Modified care meals program; Nutritional status; Oral health quality of life.