Interventions for Malnutrition in Seniors: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness

Key Message

One relevant systematic review with meta-analysis, one partially randomized clinical trial, and one non-randomized study were identified regarding the clinical effectiveness of nutritional interventions for community-dwelling older adults who are malnourished or at nutritional risk. The studied interventions included multidisciplinary nutritional interventions, dietary intensive treatment, medical treatment, and meal delivery service through Meals on Wheels.Evidence of limited quality from one partially randomized clinical trial suggested that dietary intensive treatment is likely effective for decreasing the cost of primary care physician visits and the cost of medical specialist visits compared to medical treatment or usual care. There were no statistically significant differences between participants who received multidisciplinary nutritional interventions, meal delivery service through Meals on Wheels, and usual care for quality of life or various health care utilization outcomes. Information on additional clinical outcomes was also identified and summarized; however, most of the included studies lacked sufficient power to detect a significant difference between nutritional intervention and control groups.Given the limited availability of relevant literature and the methodological limitations of the reviewed studies (e.g., lack of data from randomized controlled trials, the low number of included participants), the effectiveness of nutritional interventions for community-dwelling older adults who are malnourished or at nutritional risk remains uncertain.