Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39277969›Full record

ArticleThe journal of nutrition, health & aging2024

Comfort feeding in hospitalised people with dementia: a retrospective study of survival following comfort feeding recommendations.

Christine Davis, Nasime Mokari-Manshadi, Viviane De Menezes Caceres, Patrick Russell, Toby Gilbert, Stephen Hedger, Udul Hewage, Dirk Hoffman, Yogesh Sharma, Alice O'Connell and 3 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Christine DavisDepartment of Speech Pathology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: christine.davis@sa.gov.au.
Nasime Mokari-ManshadiDepartment of Speech Pathology, Flinders Medical Centre, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5042, Australia. Electronic address: nasime.mokari-manshadi@sa.gov.au.
Viviane De Menezes CaceresSchool of Allied Health Science and Practice, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia. Electronic address: viviane.demenezescaceres@adelaide.edu.au.
Patrick RussellDepartment of Internal Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: patrick.russell@sa.gov.au.
Toby GilbertDiscipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, 5000, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: toby.gilbert@sa.gov.au.
Stephen HedgerDepartment of Internal Medicine Flinders Medical Centre, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5042, Australia. Electronic address: brasshedge@bigpond.com.
Udul HewageDepartment of Internal Medicine Flinders Medical Centre, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5042, Australia. Electronic address: udul.hewage@sa.gov.au.
Dirk HoffmanDepartment of General Internal Medicine, Noarlunga Hospital, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, 5168, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: dirk.hofmann@sa.gov.au.
Yogesh SharmaDepartment of Internal Medicine Flinders Medical Centre, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5042, Australia; College of Medicine & Public Health, Flinders University, 5042, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: yogesh.sharma@sa.gov.au.
Alice O'ConnellDepartment of Internal Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: alice.o'connell@sa.gov.au.
Amrit SandhuDepartment of Internal Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: amritkaur.sandhu@sa.gov.au.
Jeff FauntDepartment of Internal Medicine, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia. Electronic address: jeff.faunt@sa.gov.au.
Campbell ThompsonDiscipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, 5000, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: campbell.thompson@adelaide.edu.au.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesPersistent and significant swallowing impairment can occur in individuals with dementia. Determining prognosis and establishing realistic goals of care in this population is complex and comfort feeding may be recommended. This study aimed to establish evidence relating to patient outcomes following recommendation of comfort feeding to aid informed decision making.

designA multi-centre, retrospective audit was conducted for a two-year period to establish the survival and readmission rates for hospitalised people with dementia, following recommendation of a comfort feeding plan.

settingThe study was conducted at three acute care hospitals in Adelaide, South Australia.

participantsA total of 163 participants were included, 90 male and 73 female, with a median age of 88 years. MEASUREMENTS: Mortality within 30 and 90 days of admission and readmission rates within 30 days of discharge were calculated.

resultsForty-two percent of participants died during the admission during which a comfort feeding plan was recommended. Overall median survival time and one month survival was 13 days and 25%, respectively. Readmission rates were low (7.4% of those discharged). Comfort feeding recommendations aligned with dysphagia severity and those for whom Nil By Mouth (NBM) or ice chips only were recommended were at highest risk of dying in hospital, those recommended thickened fluids +/- ice chips were most likely to be alive 30 days after their original admission date.

conclusionDementia and comfort feeding were associated with high mortality rates, high rates of discharge to a supportive care facility and low readmission rates. Dysphagia severity associated with the consistency of fluids recommended.

Indexed as

Deglutition DisordersDementiaHospitalizationAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMalePatient ComfortPatient ReadmissionRetrospective StudiesSouth AustraliaComfort feedingDementiaDysphagiaMortalitySurvival

Identifiers

PMID39277969
PMCPMC12877273

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.