QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Smith, S. M. Articles by Dyer, C. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Smith, S. M. Articles by Dyer, C. B.

---

Nutrition and Disease

Nutritional Status Is Altered in the Self-Neglecting Elderly¹

² Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory, Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058; ³ Enterprise Advisory Services, Inc., Houston, TX 77058; ⁴ Universities Space Research Association, Houston, TX 77058; ⁵ Consortium for Research in Elder Self-Neglect of Texas (CREST), Quentin Mease Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77058; and ⁶ Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77555

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: scott.m.smith{at}nasa.gov.

Elder self-neglect is the most common form of elder mistreatment. Individuals who cannot provide basic needs for themselves may develop social, functional, and physical deficits. The systematic characterization of self-neglecting individuals is the goal of the Consortium for Research in Elder Self-Neglect of Texas project. This study reports on the nutritional status of self-neglecting elderly. Self-neglectors (SN) were recruited based on referrals along with matched control (CN) subjects. Data are for 40 SN subjects (age 76 ± 7 y) and 40 CN subjects (76 ± 7 y). Blood samples were collected and analyzed for indices of nutritional status. SN subjects had a greater serum concentration of total homocysteine than CN subjects (13.6 ± 4.5 vs. 11.6 ± 5.6 µmol/L, P < 0.05) and a lower concentration of red blood cell folate (1380 ± 514 vs. 1792 ± 793 nmol/L, P < 0.05). Plasma ß-carotene and -tocopherol were lower in SN subjects (0.28 ± 0.2 vs. 0.43 ± 0.33 µmol/L; 23.2 ± 9.3 vs. 27.8 ± 9.3 µmol/L, P < 0.05). SN subjects had a lower serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D than CN subjects (33.7 ± 16.4 vs. 44.1 ± 19.6 nmol/L, P < 0.05). These differences in markers of nutritional status show that the self-neglecting elderly are at risk for altered nutritional status, particularly of folate, antioxidants, and vitamin D. Evaluation of these data in relation to other functional and cognitive assessments are critical for evaluating the relation between nutrition and self-neglect.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. D. Naik, J. Burnett, S. Pickens-Pace, and C. B. Dyer Impairment in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and the Geriatric Syndrome of Self-Neglect Gerontologist, June 1, 2008; 48(3): 388 - 393. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. M. Strasser and T. Fulmer The Clinical Presentation of Elder Neglect: What We Know and What We Can Do Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, January 1, 2007; 12(6): 340 - 349. [Abstract] [PDF]