Oral Nutritional Supplementation and Community-dwelling Older Adults: a Feasibility Study

NCT ID: NCT05810753

Last Updated: 2024-03-15

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

10 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-05-20

Study Completion Date

2024-01-31

Brief Summary

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The goal of this study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability to community-dwelling older adults of implementing a precise prescription of oral nutritional supplementation (the SPOONful intervention).

Detailed Description

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Oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) can treat and prevent malnutrition in older adults (aged ≥70 years). However, older adults' adherence to ONS is poor (\~ 37%). One specific influence that may impact adherence is how effectively ONS prescription corresponds with older-adults' typical daily eating patterns (i.e., eating three meals daily and snacking infrequently). Currently, prescription instructions for ONS provided by the UK's National Health Service/National Institute for Health and Care Excellent lack precision within daily eating patterns and place the onus on healthcare practitioners to determine effective implementation. Poor ONS adherence could be caused, in part, by this imprecise prescription.

This hypothesis is founded on research demonstrating the importance of behavioural habit strength in promoting health-behaviour engagement/maintenance. Medical research suggests that forming medication-taking routines/habits through 'piggybacking' (combining a new behaviour with an existing habit/routine) can improve long-term adherence by reducing novel, deliberative behaviours requiring additional cognitive and self-regulatory resources - this is particularly salient for older adults where cognitive decline is widely experienced and a clear barrier to engaging in novel behaviours. Piggybacking with medical care is a key, under explored and relevant direction of enquiry to improve ONS adherence.To explore the idea that a more precise prescription may increase adherence to ONS, a feasibility and acceptability study will be undertaken to provide an initial evaluation of the SPOONful intervention.

Consent will be sought from community-dwelling older adults who will be asked to take part in a two-day familiarisation phase to ensure they understand the protocol and do not dislike or have an adverse reaction to the ONS. They will then be randomised into the intervention or control group. In the intervention group, participants will be asked to consume two ONS at particular times of day for three weeks. In the control group, participants will engage in usual care for ONS, i.e., they will be asked to consume two ONS daily but without specific instruction as to when this should be. All participants will subsequently engage in a follow-up phase comprising interviews with participants. Participants will complete all phases at home. The data gathered will be used to inform the feasibility and acceptability of a later trial.

Conditions

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Malnutrition Healthy Aging

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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SPOONful

Participants will be asked to consume one ONS with their breakfast, and one with their lunch, daily for three weeks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

SPOONful

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be asked to consume two ONS daily, in addition to their regular diet, for three weeks. Participants will be asked to consume one ONS with their breakfast, and one with lunch.

Control

Participants will be asked to consume two ONS daily, in addition to their regular diet, for three weeks without any precise instruction regarding when to consume the ONS during the day (standard care).

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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SPOONful

Participants will be asked to consume two ONS daily, in addition to their regular diet, for three weeks. Participants will be asked to consume one ONS with their breakfast, and one with lunch.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Be aged ≥70 years.
* Be living independently in the community.
* Be able to self-feed.
* Score \>12 on The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (5-minute telephone version).
* Not be classified as High Risk of Malnutrition as assessed by the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool
* Not have a BMI ≥40.
* Not have diabetes, a diagnosed eating disorder, a history of gastric/digestive/metabolic/cardiovascular/anosmia/renal disease, galactosaemia or another issue negatively impacting eating.
* Not have an allergy/intolerance/dislike or previous experience of regularly taking ONS.
* Regularly eat breakfast and lunch (≥5 times per week).
Minimum Eligible Age

70 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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University of Leeds

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Aston University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Food4Years Ageing Network

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Loughborough University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Chris McLeod

Lecturer

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Loughborough University

Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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United Kingdom

Other Identifiers

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SPOONful_13002

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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