Abstract
The objective of the current study was to elucidate the defecation status and the factors relating to diarrhea in elderly patients receiving tube feeding. We conducted a survey on a total of 140 elderly individuals hospitalized in a recuperation ward who had been receiving tube feeding for ≥6 months. A total of 113 patients (80.7%) had diarrhea and 138 (98.6%) had fecal incontinence. Items significantly related to diarrhea were the ability to maintain a seated position, form of nutritional supplements, and infusion volume per hour in patients receiving liquid-form nutritional supplements. Patients with diarrhea had a lower infusion volume per hour than those who did not have diarrhea, indicating that it would be difficult to treat diarrhea by reducing the infusion rate. In addition, many of the patients who did not have diarrhea were receiving semisolid nutritional supplements, confirming that use of semi-solid nutritional supplements is effective in treating diarrhea. Furthermore, diarrhea was associated with an inability to maintain a seated position, suggesting that physical function is an important factor affecting defecation.
