The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between the decrease of body mass index (BMI) and alterations in life-related clinical features of the hospitalized elderly with senile dementia, including: appetite loss, manifestation of wandering, and a shift to the bed-ridden stage. The data were collected retrospectively from patients' medical and nursing records. The dementia group was defined as 33 patients (male/female=10/23, age=72.1 ± 11.2), which included those with Alzheimer's disease (13), senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (10), and senile dementia (10). The non-dementia group was defined as 10 psychiatric patients (male/female=2/8, age=78.1 ± 6.7), with no diagnosis of dementia.
Upon these patients' admissions, no significant differences were found between the BMIs of the dementia group and that of the non-dementia group. Significant changes in the BMIs of the dementia group were found between their admissions (21.9Kg/m
2) and the point of investigation (18.6Kg/m2) (P < 0.01). On the other hand, no significant changes were found in the BMIs of the non-dementia group during their hospitalization.
Regarding the dementia group, BMIs have significantly decreased in all of the following groups: those with manifestations of wandering; those with appetite loss; and those without these symptoms. The BMIs of the bed-ridden group in the dementia group significantly decreased from their admissions (18.4Kg/
2) to their early bed-ridden stages (16.2 Kg/m
2)(P < 0.05), and from their admissions to the point of investigation (15.3 Kg/
2)(P < 0.01). The BMIs of the non bed-ridden patients in the dementia group also decreased significantly from their admissions (23.7Kg/m
2) to the point of investigation (20.2 Kg/m
2)(P < 0.01).
Body weight loss and BMI decrease was significantly associated with the diagnosis of dementia and the shift to the bed-ridden stage, but was not associated with manifestation of wandering or appetite loss among the life-related clinical variables. The findings of this study suggest that BMI can be an effective indicator to assess and detect the care-needs of patients with senile dementia.
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