Nutritional Status and Medication Treatment in Home-dwelling Older Adults

Nutrition and Medication Management in Home-dwelling Older Adults. Study I: Nutritional Status and Medication Treatment in Home-dwelling Older Adults. A Cross-sectional Study

The project "Nutrition and Medication management in home-dwelling older adults" consist of two separate studies witch are described in the same study protocol. This is the first study in this Project. The second study is described separately; Identification: 2017/12883-2

Malnutrition is common in older adults. The causes are many and include adverse drug effects. Loss of appetite, nausea, or dry mouth are adverse drug effects, which may contribute to malnutrition. Knowledge about possible relations between drug treatment and nutritional status is scarce.

The objectives of the project is to describe nutritional status, drug treatment and the prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication in home-dwelling elderly receiving home care service in two Norwegian municipalities.

Recruitment by a the home nurse service. An informed content from the participant (or a close relative for those not able to give an informed consent) is required. A nurse will visit the participants and ask for information about six items concerning: food intake, weight loss, mobility, psychological stress, neuropsychological problems. The height and weight will be measured. A photo of the medicine prescription card will be taken. The investigators have created an online solution for collection of these sensitive data, including photos of the medication prescription card.

The data will automatically be stored in a secure database at the University of Oslo (TSD), for further analyses.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Home-dwelling
• Be admitted to home-nursing service, every second week or more often.
• Age 70 or older
• Medication administrated by home nursing service.
• Informed consent by patient or close relative (next of kin)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patient or next of kin denies inclusion