Impact of an exercise and nutrition program on caregiver time with residents in institutional care—A secondary analysis

TL;DR

An exercise and nutrition program reduced the time caregivers spent with residents in dementia units of long-term care facilities.

Contribution

A structured exercise and nutrition program was found to reduce caregiver time specifically in dementia units of institutional care.

Findings

The intervention group had significantly lower caregiver time (55 min/day) compared to the control group (83 min/day) in dementia units.

The program's impact was observed in dementia units but not in somatic units.

Non-linear methods were used to analyze skewed caregiver time data.

Abstract

Residents in long‐term institutional care (LTIC) settings are at risk of malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty. In the Older Persons Exercise and Nutrition (OPEN) randomized study, the impact of exercise and nutrition was analyzed. This secondary analysis focused on caregiver time (CGT).

The 3‐month intervention included repeated sit‐to‐stand exercises and two protein‐enriched supplements daily. CGT was assessed in both dementia and somatic units using the Resource Utilization in Dementia instrument. Non‐linear methods were applied due to skewed data.

The sample consisted of 102 persons (intervention group [IG] n = 52, control group [CG] n = 50). CGT in the IG was significantly lower at follow‐up, adjusted for baseline CGT, in the dementia units, that is, 55 min/day and resident, compared to 83 min/day in the CG (odds ratio 0.668 [0.473–0.945]; p = 0.022).

A structured exercise and nutrition program was associated with reduced CGT in the dementia, but not the somatic, LTIC units.

This study has been registered with the number protocol of ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02702037.

Residents in long‐term institutional care settings risk malnutrition, sarcopenia and frailty.Older Persons Exercise and Nutrition (OPEN) is a program including exercise and nutrition.Caregiver time (CGT) is a heavy cost‐driver in long‐term institutional care.The OPEN‐program reduced CGT in the dementia units.

Residents in long‐term institutional care settings risk malnutrition, sarcopenia and frailty.

Older Persons Exercise and Nutrition (OPEN) is a program including exercise and nutrition.

Caregiver time (CGT) is a heavy cost‐driver in long‐term institutional care.

The OPEN‐program reduced CGT in the dementia units.

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