FAILURE TO THRIVE AGED IN THE NURSING HOME (MALNUTRITION).
Contributors: Case Western Reserve University.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 245
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: Failure to thrive has received marked attention in the pediatric literature but has been virtually unrecognized as a phenomenon among the aged. Although not identical in the two fields, failure to thrive in the aged may be the mirror image of infant failure to thrive. The purpose of this longitudinal prospective study was to investigate the phenomenon of failure to thrive among nursing home aged through the use of case and comparison groups. The time series design included multiple measurements of the variables (caloric/nutrient intake, body weight, functional ability, cognitive ability, and depression) at monthly intervals.

The total sample, randomly selected from three nursing homes, consisted of 53 aged female residents with an average age of 83.7 years and an average length of stay in the nursing home of 36.2 months. The case group (failure to thrive, N = 25) consisted of individuals losing at least two percent of body weight or more over two months. The comparison group (non-failure to thrive, N = 28) consisted of individuals gaining/maintaining weight. The two groups did not differ significantly on the basis of age, weight, height, marital status, length of stay, diagnosis, medications, diet orders, or vitamin/mineral supplements.

Results demonstrated that failing subjects over time continued to lose weight and decline in both physical and cognitive function; while non-failing subjects maintained weight and function. Profile analysis indicated that the two groups differed significantly over time in both weight change and physical function. Although the difference was not significant, failing subjects, over the course of the study, were considerably less physically and cognitively able and more depressed than non-failing subjects.

Both failing and non-failing subjects consistently consumed inadequate amounts of calories, calcium, and folic acid throughout the five months of the study. Differences between the groups and within groups for all variables were most apparent through longitudinal analysis, rather than cross-sectionally at each study month.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-01, Section: B, page: 0088.

Thesis (PH.D.)--CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, 1987.

School code: 0042.