Pomeranian Journal of Life Sciences, 4(64), 2018
ABSTRACTIntroduction: Eating disorders constitute one of the most serious health problems in older people.The objective of the thesis was to evaluate the impact of clinical nutrition on selected biochemical parameters and general nutritional status in geriatric patients undergoing home treatment.Material and methods: The study covered 65 people aged 65+ suffering from a chronic disease undergoing home therapy. The study was conducted based on the diagnostic survey method with the use of survey questionnaires.Results: The nutritional status of the studied patients was assessed against the NRS scale during the introductory assessment. The average result obtained by the subjects was 5.28 points ±0.84 points. The main reason for nutrition therapy in the case of 52 patients (80.0%) was dysphagia. In the remaining 20% of patients the causes for nutritional therapy stemmed from other clinical symptoms.Conclusions: 1. Nutritional therapy improves nutritional status in chronically ill patients treated at home. 2. Dysphagia in the course of oncological and neurological diseases is the most frequent indication for home nutritional treatment. 3. To a substantial extent, nutritional therapy improves albumin and haemoglobin levels in chronically ill patients. Meanwhile, no statistically significant differences were reported in terms of improved total cholesterol, triglycerides or electrolytes among patients.