Does artificial enteral nutrition prolong the survival of institutionalized elders with chewing and swallowing problems?
GROUND: There is a lack of prognostic data regarding tube feeding of institutionalized elderly people. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of feeding tubes on the survival of nursing home residents with chewing and swallowing problems, and to follow the course of the tube-fed residents over one year. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study with 12-month follow-up using Minimum Data Set resident assessments from 1991. Participants included 5,266 nursing home residents over the age of 65 with chewing and swallowing problems living in 272 Washington state nursing homes. Residents who had a feeding tube were identified. Baseline clinical characteristics and 12-month survival were compared for residents with and without feeding tubes. The proportion of tube-fed residents who became tube-free during the follow-up period was determined, and clinical features that predicted this outcome were examined. RESULTS: Among the residents with chewing and swallowing problems, 10.5% had
