None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The MARRC Study aims to address the gaps in current evidence for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition in older adults. The project aims to answer: “Among malnourished older adults admitted to rural rehabilitation units in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, does engaging the informal carer as part of nutrition support improve nutrition status, functional status, quality of life, rehabilitation outcome (length of stay and institutionalisation), incidence of hospitalisation and cost-effectiveness of care at discharge and 90 days post-discharge compared with usual care?” The intervention involves nutrition intervention, which is a one off counselling session involving the patient and their informal carer and post-discharge telephone reviews for the informal carer. The control group receives standard care, which does not involve the informal carer or post-discharge support.
Interventions
Usual care was observed as provided to older adults admitted to rehabilitation units with pre-existing protein-energy malnutrition, with follow-up 3-months post-discharge. The level of allied health intervention during and post-rehabilitation was observed and reported to describe the usual care.
Sponsors
Skye Marshall
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Study centres were chosen by convenience sampling based on location. Patients greater than or equal to 65 years admitted to the participating rehabilitation units with a patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) rating of B (mild-moderate malnutrition) or C (severe malnutrition), if they were community-dwelling residents prior to admission with the view they would be discharged back to the community and they have an acknowledged informal carer. This includes community-dwelling patients transferred from acute care. An informal carer for this study was considered an adult family member or close friend who a) lives with the older adult or b) does not live with the adult but provides care to the older adult for four days or more each week. The details of the carer will be provided by the participant in the first instance and reaffirmed by the informal carer.
Exclusion criteria
Well nourished (PG-SGA rating A) patients are excluded. If it becomes apparent that a participant will have their discharge location changed from the community to a residential aged care facility, they will be included with an intention-to-treat approach however will not receive final outcome assessments. Informal carers will be invited to participate in the study in order to complete secondary outcome measures; however their non-participation does not excluded eligible older adults from participating in the study.
Outcome results
None listed