Background: Elderly people have an increased risk of malnutrition due to biological and physiological changes and underlying disease. Almost 90% of the stroke patients are older than 65 years, and the consequences of acute stroke may lead to additional nutritional problems. This paper reviews nutritional therapy for stroke patients.
Material and method: PubMed was searched (non-systematically) for prospective cohort studies of occurrence, diagnostics and consequences of undernutrition in stroke patients. Randomized trials were examined to identify clinical effects of oral protein and energy supplements or tube feeding on nutritional status and intake, functional status, infections, length of stay, quality of life and mortality.
Results: 8-35% of stroke patients are undernourished. Body weight is one of the most important parameters for assessment of nutritional status. Dysphagia occurs in up to 80% of patients with acute stroke and increases the risk of undernutrition, which again leads to prolonged length of stay, reduced functional status and poorer survival. Early nasogastric tube feeding does not increase the risk of pneumonia and may improve survival after six months. Oral supplements lead to a significantly improved nutritional intake in undernourished stroke patients, as well as improved nutritional status and survival in undernourished elderly.
Interpretation: Nutritional treatment can improve the clinical outcome after an acute stroke, provided that there are good procedures for follow-up and monitoring of the treatment.