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Health and nutrition promotion program for patients with dementia (NutriAlz): cluster randomized trial
Salvà A, Andrieu S, Fernandez E, Schiffrin EJ, Moulin J, Decarli B, Rojano-i-Luque X, Guigoz Y et al.. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 2011-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To assess the effectiveness of health and nutrition program (NutriAlz) versus usual care on functional level in elderly people with dementia living at home, as well as on clinical practice related to nutrition and on the caregiver's burden. Design Cluster randomized multi-centre study with one-year follow-up. Setting 11 Alzheimer outpatients and day care centres (Barcelona, Spain). Participants Nine hundred and forty six home-living Alzheimer patients with identified caregiver were consecutively recruited (intervention group: 6 centres, 448 patients vs control group: 5 centres, 498 patients). Intervention The intervention was a teaching and training intervention on health and nutrition program, NutriAlz, directed both to physician and main caregiver, as well as persons affected by Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, including a standardised protocol for feeding and nutrition. Main outcome measures The main outcome measure was the reduction in the loss of autonomy (Activities of daily living (ADL/IADL) scales) assessed at 6 and 12 months. Secondary outcomes measures were Improvement in nutritional status (Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), BMI, and weight changes), and caregiver burden (Zarit scale). Results The one-year assessment was completed for 293 patients (65.4%) in the intervention group and 363 patients (72.9%) in the control group (usual care). The annual rate of ADL change was -0.83 vs -0.62 (p=0.984), and the caregiver's subjective burden 0.59 vs 2.36 (p=0.681) in intervention and control group, respectively. MNA, however, showed an improvement (+0.46 vs -0.66, p=0.028), suggesting an effective nutritional behaviour. Conclusion The NutriAlz program had no effect on functional decline in Alzheimer disease patients living at home over one year, but reduced the risk for malnutrition, as recommendations concerning diet and exercise were provided.
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APA 7th
Salvà, A., Andrieu, S., Fernandez, E., Schiffrin, E. J., Moulin, J., Decarli, B., et al. (2011). Health and nutrition promotion program for patients with dementia (NutriAlz): cluster randomized trial. The journal of nutrition, health & aging. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-011-0363-3
Vancouver
Salvà A, Andrieu S, Fernandez E, Schiffrin EJ, Moulin J, Decarli B, et al. Health and nutrition promotion program for patients with dementia (NutriAlz): cluster randomized trial. The journal of nutrition, health & aging. 2011. doi:10.1007/s12603-011-0363-3. PMID: 22159768.
BibTeX
@article{salva2011-22159768,
author = {Salvà, A. and Andrieu, S. and Fernandez, E. and Schiffrin, E. J. and Moulin, J. and Decarli, B. and Rojano-i-Luque, X. and Guigoz, Y. and others},
title = {{Health and nutrition promotion program for patients with dementia (NutriAlz): cluster randomized trial}},
journal = {The journal of nutrition, health \& aging},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1007/s12603-011-0363-3},
pmid = {22159768},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-011-0363-3}
}
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Key findings
- Objective To assess the effectiveness of health and nutrition program (NutriAlz) versus usual care on functional level in elderly people with dementia living at home, as well as on clinical practice related to nutrition and on the caregiver's burden.
- Results The one-year assessment was completed for 293 patients (65.4%) in the intervention group and 363 patients (72.9%) in the control group (usual care).
Why it matters
This cluster randomized trial of 946 home-living Alzheimer patients tested a health and nutrition program against usual care, with the one-year assessment completed for 65.4% of the intervention group and 72.9% of the control group. It addresses nutrition and functional level in dementia care, not treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants448
- Effect size65.4%; 72.9%
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 55/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The journal of nutrition, health & aging) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | The journal of nutrition health & aging: journal h-index 122 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 448 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomized / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomized (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 89 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 5.2 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 9 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Bruno J. Vellas: h-index 60 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Inserm: institution h-index 1,988 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22159768) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 55 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1007/s12603-011-0363-3
- PubMed: 22159768
- Original source →
- Free full text: The journal of nutrition health & aging →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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