The Investigation of Nutritional Intake and Associated Influence Factors of Patients in Different Stages of Alzheimer'S Disease

Dementia has now become a health problem that the entire world needs to face. According to the latest data, it is estimated that Alzheimer's patients over 65 years of age in Taiwan should have reached 150,000 to 200,000 people. In the course of Alzheimer's disease, the disease itself affects the patient's physical condition and body functions, and is also often accompanied by the interference of the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. These factors result in changes in the patient's diet and nutritional status. Therefore, the patients with Alzheimer's disease have higher malnutrition risk than other elderly people of the same age. Besides, changes in diet and nutritional status may also worsen the progression of Alzheimer's disease. However, the dietary and nutritional status throughout the course of Alzheimer's disease, as well as related studies about factors affecting nutritional uptake, have not been adequately addressed. Therefore, we want to investigate the nutritional status of patients with Alzheimer's disease at different stages of the disease and related factors affecting nutritional uptake. From July 2018 to June 2021, 400 people from the early, middle, and end stages of Alzheimer's disease and people in the control group who were over the age of 50 from a dementia center from one hospital will be collected. We will use LINE@® and the three-day diet record immediately recorded the participants' diet. At the same time, we will record the relevant factors affecting nutritional uptake, including disease clinical stage, cognitive function, neuropsychiatric and behavioral symptoms, depression, activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, caregivers' burden, physical disease burden, dietary habits, medication, exercise and balance function, difficulty in eating, and frailty. The effect of nutrient intake, blood content, and body composition will be analyzed by stepwise regression to find out its prediction model. The chi-square test will be used again to confirm the correlation between the prediction model and the course of Alzheimer's disease. After the successful completion of the study, it will become the first comprehensive nutrition survey for Alzheimer's patients in the world, and will be a reliable reference for medical staff.