PD1024 - TREATMENT ADHERENCE IN AN ELDERLY POPULATION UNDERGOING ORAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION: AN EXPLORATORY INTERVENTIONAL STUDY

PD1024

TREATMENT ADHERENCE IN AN ELDERLY POPULATION UNDERGOING ORAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION: AN EXPLORATORY INTERVENTIONAL STUDY

R. Spiller^1,*, M. Bassano¹, A. Beretti¹, L. Canali¹

¹Farmadomo Home Care Provider SA, Camorino, Switzerland

 

Rationale: Adherence to prescribed nutritional supplements therapies is crucial for clinical outcomes in elderly patients. Analyzing consumption modality, outcomes and treatment discontinuation across different therapeutic strategies is essential to optimize nutritional management.

 

Methods: 32 patients (mean age 78.5 ± 10.8 years) received liquid oral nutritional supplements (ONS), dietitian consultation and follow-up interviews over 12 weeks. All the patients received consumptions indication, after that they were assigned to three groups: A=consumption decided independently, B=consumption after each of three main meals, C=consumption with the medical therapy; group C (n=1) was excluded from comparative analyses. Non-adherence was defined as ONS dose reduction; treatment failure included non-adherence and discontinuation. Data refer to week 12. Descriptive statistics were applied, with a comparison between groups A and B using Fisher’s exact test.

Results: The results are shown in the table, no statistically significant differences were observed between groups (p < 0.05).

 

Group	N patients	Non adherent (%)	Discontinued treatment (%)	Treatment failure (%)
A	17	23.5	11.8	35.3
B	14	28.6	14.3	42.9
P-value (A vs B)				P < 0.05 (ns)

 

Conclusion: Treatment failure was frequent. No differences emerged between strategies, these findings underscore the difficulty of maintaining adherence in elderly patients. Future research should evaluate individualized interventions and structured support programs to enhance compliance and effectiveness of other methods of oral nutritional support.

 

References: 1. Volkert D, Beck AM, Cederholm T, et al. ESPEN guideline on clinical nutrition and hydration in geriatrics. Clin Nutr. 2019;38(1):10–47. 2. Hubbard GP, Elia M, Holdoway A, Stratton RJ. A systematic review of compliance to oral nutritional supplements. Clin Nutr. 2012;31(3):293–312.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared