On the basis of a blood test, Mini Nutritional Assessment, and nutritional anamnesis, the nutritionist developed a plan for individualised nutritional care and discussed with the participant and her/his nurse or family members. If the participants seemed unable to increase the energy and/or protein of their diet, daily complementary dietary drinks were recommended to them. After the dental hygienist interview and oral health examination, the participants in need were targeted for oral health intervention. The intervention included individualised instructions on either dental hygiene, denture hygiene, cleaning of the oral mucosa or for dry mouth. The participants were re-examined six months after the baseline interviews to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions. Both the intervention and control groups had the same examinations as with the exception of the nutritional and oral health intervention.

Using MNA test and s-albumin level test

Clinical oral health examination included type and location of removable dental prosthesis, examination of the oral mucosa, number and location of teeth, condition of teeth, presence of plaque, gingival bleeding and measurement of periodontal pockets. In-home interview included questions about dental and denture hygiene, a subjective feeling of dry mouth and pain in mouth

A pharmacist recorded each prescription and non-prescription medication and complementary and alternative medicine supplements used regularly, as-needed within a week or in the past on the basis of the interview, medication lists, packages and prescriptions at the baseline. All medications were encoded using the ATC (Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical) classification (WHO). The medication list from the locally used electronic medical record (EMR) was gathered from the same day than in-home interview