Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences & Clinical Health Sciences

Sip vs Slurp : The influence on the amount of supplement drink

consumed.

Victoria Allen Professor Margot GosneyResearch Nurse Consultant in Elderly Care Medicine

Dr Lisa MethvenFood and Nutritional Scientist

Malnutrition in elderly people

Hospital

Care homes (aged 83.1+/-9.7years)

Frail 35%Cognitive impairment 41%

Nutrition screening survey (BAPEN 2010)

Consequences of malnutrition

Increased GP consultations

Nutritional supplement drinks

Improve weight More in frail peopleReduce mortality More in elderly

peopleDecrease complications Limits effectivenessBetter cognition

Aim : To analyse the influence of drinking method on consumption of ONS drinks

Why?:• Changing the cutlery and crockery

used by Alzheimer's disease patients this has a positive effect on the amount of food consumed.

• Consumption greater in some settings. Is this due to different practices?

• Familiar environments may improve oral intake

1 2 3 4 5 6 7AM

PM

EVE

Participants were randomly allocated to either consume their drinks given in a glass/beaker or to through a straw inserted directly into the container.

Weighed amount remaining of each drink (grams)

Methods

Participants

N 19 26Age 88.4 +/- 5.4 85.4 +/- 8.6MMSE 12.4 +/- 5.6 14.1 +/- 8.6Gender (female : male) 84% : 16% 73%: 27%MNA-SF (with calf circumf.) 5.7 +/- 2.3 5.4 +/- 3.2

Straw Glass or Beaker

Results – amount consumed

Straw Glass or BeakerMean +/- SD Mean +/- SD P value

% drunk 54.1 +/-37.9 65.4 +/- 35.1 0.027KCal 139.6 +/- 102.1 173.2 +/- 96.1 0.05

Results – drinks not given

straw glass0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

not given

given

Straw Glass or BeakerN (%) N (%)

Given 282 (84%) 272 (81%)Not given 44 (16%) 64 (19%)

Implications for practice

• Consumption of ONS drinks would improve in older adults if they were served in a glass/beaker rather than inserting a straw into the container.

• The convenience of giving ONS drinks with a straw did not significantly impact the proportion of ONS drinks given.

What other factors influence consumption of nutritional drinks?

WEEK DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3

ONE

TWO

THREE

Free living people37 free living people took part in consuming the drinks

Aged 72.1+/-7.4 years, 57% female

• Time of day given, non significant trend for consumption o decline on 3rd drink (p=0.411)

• Who participants were with was significantly related to consumption (p<0.001)

•

Consumption was affected by how much participants liked the drink (p=0.003) & the drink they were consuming (p<0.001).

Conclusion Consumption of ONS is influenced by several factors.

However, serving nutritional drinks to elderly people by their usual drinking method has a positive influence on improving the Consumption of ONS drinks.

Thank-you

Any Questions?