Levantamento do estado nutricional e de complicações associadas à terapia nutricional enteral domiciliar em idosos

The high prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and neurodegenerativediseases in elderly has been increasing the hospitalizations risk and, consequently, the malnutrition risk, which leads to a greater need for enteral tube feeding (ETF). Thus, this article aimsto conduct a survey about nutritional status and complications related to home enteral tubefeeding (HETF) in elderly. Methods: This is a descriptive observational study conducted in amedium-sized municipality of Greater São Paulo (Metropolitan region). To collect data, a surveyof medical records and home visits was carried out from January 2012 to April 2018. Patientsaged 60 years and over who had information on bowel habits, presence of pressure ulcers, position of feeding tube and anthropometric data of calf circumference (CC) and arm circumference(AC) were eligible. The values found for CC and AC were interpreted according to the referencecut-off points. Results: The study included 43 elderly people, 67.4% female and 32.6% male.The nasogastric feeding tube was present in 62,8% of the patients. Pressure ulcer was the mostprevalent (58.1%) complications associated with HETF. Diarrhea was present in 4.7% of the elderlyand constipation in 44.2%. In regard of nutritional status, muscle mass depletion was present in88.4% of the elderly and severe mass deficit in 62.9% of them. Conclusions: The assessment ofthe nutritional status and complications associated with HETF in elderly showed that more than ahalf had some muscle mass deficit and the pressure ulcer was the most prevalent complication,followed by constipation and diarrhea.