P3‐117: Nutrition and Dementia Project (nutrdem Project)

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between dietary patterns, nutritional status, body composition (with evaluation of visceral fat) and cognitive functions in the elderly subjects living in community. The NutrDem Project was designed as prospective, observational study and was launched on April 2014 at the Department of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotic Disorders and the Department of Medical Psychology, within the framework of Healthy Aging Research Centre (HARC) at Medical University of Lodz. Elderly participants are recruited into 3 clinical groups: healthy controls (CTL), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and patients with dementia of mild severity (DEM). Detailed clinical data are collected and analysis of participants diet and risk of malnutrition is performed. All patients included in the project undergo a general physical neurological and psychiatric examinations and neuropsychological tests using selected test and tools: MMSE, Clinical Dementia Severity Rating Scale (CDR), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB) Eclipse battery. Evaluation of nutritional status includes: anthropometric measurements, evaluation of body composition with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), analysis of blood count and blood levels of biochemical parameters. 150 elderly participants were included so far, mostly MCI and CTL cases. Currently there are preliminary results obtained during the project. Diet of participants is not well balanced, use of supplements is popular, and nonetheless low level of vitamin D is a frequent finding. The evaluation of the role of nutritional factors in the risk of cognitive decline seems to be an important clinical assessment. Possible preventive strategies and recommendations might evolve as a result of these prospective observations.