DO FAMILY CAREGIVERS RECOGNIZE MALNUTRITION IN THE FRAIL ELDERLY

Objective: To determine if family caregivers are aware of the severely underweight elder's risk of malnutrition and accordingly increase nut ritional care efforts. Design: Case-control study. Participants: Famil ial caregivers to community-dwelling elders. Measurements: Risk of mal nutrition as defined by body mass index less-than-or-equal-to 5th perc entile of the national average for elders aged 65-90. Results: Compare d with caregivers of elders without risk for malnutrition, caregivers to undernourished elders are significantly more likely to give elders protein supplements, to make foods accessible to elders, and to encour age and pressure the elder to eat. Conclusions: Caregivers recognize g ross signs of malnutrition in elders, increase nutritional care in res ponse, and deserve some measure of support for their claims of health expertise.