Impact of an exercise and nutrition program on caregiver time with residents in institutional care—A secondary analysis

Abstract INTRODUCTION Residents in long‐term institutional care (LTIC) settings are at risk of malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty. In the Older Persons Exercise and Nutrition (OPEN) randomized study, the impact of exercise and nutrition was analyzed. This secondary analysis focused on caregiver time (CGT). METHODS The 3‐month intervention included repeated sit‐to‐stand exercises and two protein‐enriched supplements daily. CGT was assessed in both dementia and somatic units using the Resource Utilization in Dementia instrument. Non‐linear methods were applied due to skewed data. RESULTS The sample consisted of 102 persons (intervention group IG n = 52, control group CG n = 50). CGT in the IG was significantly lower at follow‐up, adjusted for baseline CGT, in the dementia units, that is, 55 min/day and resident, compared to 83 min/day in the CG (odds ratio 0.668 0.473–0.945; p = 0.022). DISCUSSION A structured exercise and nutrition program was associated with reduced CGT in the dementia, but not the somatic, LTIC units. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION This study has been registered with the number protocol of ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02702037.