2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Investigation of the usefulness of the tongue as a nutritional assessment index for elderly people
Project/Area Number |
25670995
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Research Field |
Gerontological nursing
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Research Institution | University of Miyazaki |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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Keywords | 高齢者 / 栄養評価 / 舌色 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The objective of this study was to photograph tongue color and measure tongue pressure in elderly residents at a facility for the elderly who were able to ingest food orally, and to develop a nutritional assessment scale with a color chart showing different tongue colors corresponding to physical measurements, biochemical test, and dietary intake in order to investigate the usefulness of the tongue as a nutritional assessment index. Subjects were 4 men and 38 women, with a mean age of 86.6. Results for tongue color distribution showed a tendency for greater lightness in subjects with Alb.>3.5 and normal TTR, and lower lightness in subjects with Alb <3.0 and TTR equal to or below normal value. In addition, a partial correlation was found between tongue lightness and blood test (<0.05). These results suggest that a relationship exists between tongue lightness and blood test, but that the relationship was insufficient to enable a nutritional assessment scale to be drawn up and tested.
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Free Research Field |
老年看護学
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