Short Communication
Food Preference Evaluation of an Old Person with Dementia Using an Eye Tracking System: Relationship between Gaze and Amount of Food Intake
2021 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 52-59
Details
2021 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 52-59
Objective: The poor appearance of some food styles, such as blended foods, can adversely affect food preference and cause loss of appetite. Eye tracking can be effective for objectively determining food preference in patients with difficulty in communicating. The objective of this study was to use an eye tracking system to investigate the relationship between food preference and unconscious eye gazing in a patient with dementia.
Subject and Methods: The subject was a 75-year-old-man in Long-Term Care Level 2 with a score of nine points on the Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised (HDS-R) used by the Japanese insurance system. His primary illness was cerebellar hemorrhage complicated by dementia. The food forms were unprocessed and blended test food, and the test foods were grilled fish weighing about 78 g (iEat, EN Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.). We attached an eye tracker (Tobii pro/glasses 2, Tobii Technology Japan Ltd.), and had the patient freely look for 10 s at each dish that had been served. One set was 10 s, and we carried out three sets. After the observation period, the patient ate test foods freely within 10 min. The gazing point was measured for 10 s from the time the food was served to the time the subject started eating. Gaze data stored in the recording unit were analyzed using analytical software (Tobii Studio, version 4.9; Tobii Technology Japan, Ltd.). The amount of food intake was measured after the meal. Higher food intake was interpreted as “high” preference level, while lower food intake was interpreted as “low” preference level.
Results: The number of gaze point fixations and the total gaze point fixation time were significantly correlated with the amount of food intake. The intake of unprocessed food was higher than that of processed food. These findings are consistent with those observed in healthy adults.
Conclusion: The results suggested that subjects with dementia tend to gaze most often and longest at foods they highly prefer.
