OBJETIVE: Verifying the effect of the use of feeding complement on elderly people attended by the nutrition sector of an outpatient clinic in Sao Paulo city, through weight evolution and Body Mass Index (BMI) of these patients. METHODS: The sample comprised elderly people aged 60 years or more, from both sexes, who take feeding complement prescribed by the sector nutritionist. The variables studied were genre, age, weight, height, BMI, frequent pathologies, amount prescribed by the complement, weight evolution and BMI, certain time between the first appointment and return. Data was collected in attendance records, analyzed in the beginning and after the first return of appointment. Frequency of continuous and categorical variables has been carried out and analyzed through paired-t test with p<0.05. RESULTS: 74 patients records have been analyzed, 47 women and 27 men, with average age of 75.9 ± 8.3 years. The most frequent pathologies found were: systemic arterial hypertension, (55.4%) dislipidemy (39.2%) and diabetes mellitus (28.4%). Weight average of patients has been of 51.4Kg in the first appointment and 51,9Kg in the return (p= 0,025). BMI average was 21,71Kg/m² in the first appointment, and 21,90 Kg/m² in the return (p= 0.40). CONCLUSIONS: This work has shown that the use of feeding complement among elderly people who were studied has succeed, showing the importance of intervention on nutritional situation in order to improve the individual's health.
Health of the Elderly; Elderly Nutrition; Aged; Supplementary Feeding; Aging
