journal articles
PROFILE OF USE OF VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS AMONG ELDERLY INSTITUTIONALIZED ADULTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
S. Goorang, L. Ausman, R. Houser, S.J. Whiting
Jour Nursing Home Res 2015;1:1-5
Background: Although studies have evaluated the use of vitamin and mineral supplements in the general population and community-dwelling older adults, little is known about the use of these products among long-term care (LTC) facility residents. These individuals, who tend to take more medications and are particularly at risk of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, may benefit from using vitamin and/or mineral supplements. Alternatively, getting too much of these nutrients may increase risk of excessive intake or drug-supplement interactions. Thus, it is important to document supplement use among elders living in institutions. Objective: To examine the prevalence of use of different types of vitamin and mineral supplements among institutionalized elderly people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Design: A systematic review was conducted in July 2013 of Medline and Embase databases using key terms for LTC facilities and vitamin-mineral supplements. Filters used to narrow down the results included publication year after 1997, English language, human studies, and adult/aged population. Results: Of the 1825 publications identified, 892 were excluded after applying filters. After eliminating duplicates, 676 records were screened by either title or abstract, excluding 617. Full text of the remaining 59 articles was reviewed and 5 studies were selected. Conclusions: Very few studies have provided comprehensive information about the use of vitamin and mineral supplements among institutionalized elderly people. There appears to be some challenges associated with conducting research among this vulnerable population who have advanced age and multiple chronic diseases, and further studies are warranted.
CITATION:
S. Goorang ; L. Ausman ; R. Houser ; S.J. Whiting (2015): Profile OF USE of vitamin and mineral supplements among elderly institutionalized adults: A systematic review. The Journal of Nursing Home Research Science (JNHRS). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jnhrs.2015.1