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1 in 5 care home residents at risk of dehydration

1 in 5 care home residents at risk of dehydration

One in five older people living in care homes do not drink enough fluid, new research suggests.

Presented at a Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) conference, the study also showed that residents with dementia were six times more likely to be dehydrated.  

Out of those older people living in their own homes without a carer, a quarter did not get enough to drink.  

In both settings, the risk of dehydration was higher in people taking more medications.

Dr Lee Hooper, from Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia (UEA), compiled the data from her work in 57 care homes and 239 people in the community.

While Dr Hooper believes that some care homes could improve, she stressed that the causes of dehydration can be difficult to tackle.

"The reasons older people do not drink enough are that as we age we lose our sense of thirst so they may not be thirsty.

"[Or they] decide not to drink because of continence issues, because they don't have as much social contact or because of frailty or forgetfulness."

Dehydration can cause confusion and previous research has shown that anxiety levels among care home residents can be reduced if they take enough fluid.

However, Dr Hooper told the conference that routine tests to spot signs of dehydration – such as pinching the skin on the back of the hand – are not accurate.

"We have developed a set of three tests which we are trialling in care home residents at the moment," she said.

The UEA study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, is also investigating ways to prevent dehydration in the elderly.

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