Suchergebnisse

In Part I of this study, the Human Nutrition Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture's Nutritional Status Study (NSS) of 691 independently living elderly people aged 60–98 found that poor dietary quality was associated with low educational attainment, low median family income, and self‐report of partial or full dentures. In Part I, further analysis was conducted on a random subsample of 181 subjects who were examined and divided into four groups according to dentate status: two dentures, one denture, partial dentures, and teeth. In this subgroup, significant correlations were found between the quality of nutrient intake and the degree of edentulousness. Analysis of 53 nutrients plus calories from three‐day food records showed a significantly higher nutritional quality of the diet in dentate volunteers than in the other groups. This difference was approximately 20% for 19 nutrients, bringing some nutrients (such as calcium) below the RDA for this age group. Although direct correlations cannot be made with actual nutritional status, the introduction of dentures could further compromise the precarious nutritional intake of the elderly population. With this in mind, dentists need to consider carefully the importance of their elderly patients' maintaining at least some natural dentition and should provide adequate information on nutritional adaptations to dentures.

Increased interest in the potential societal benefit of incorporating health economics as a part of clinical translational science, particularly nutrition interventions, led the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health to sponsor a conference to address key questions about economic analysis of nutrition interventions to enhance communication among health economic methodologists, researchers, reimbursement policy makers, and regulators. Issues discussed included the state of the science, such as what health economic methods are currently used to judge the burden of illness, interventions, or health care policies, and what new research methodologies are available or needed to address knowledge and methodological gaps or barriers. Research applications included existing evidence-based health economic research activities in nutrition that are ongoing or planned at federal agencies. International and U.S. regulatory, policy and clinical practice perspectives included a discussion of how research results can help regulators and policy makers within government make nutrition policy decisions, and how economics affects clinical guideline development.