Studies have failed to show the benefits of using feeding tubes in patients with dementia, and expert opinions have increasingly been against the practice. Following that trend, a study in JAMA showed a decrease in feeding tube insertion rates from 2000 to 2014 in nursing home residents with advanced dementia.
Susan Mitchell, MD, from Harvard Medical School-affiliated Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Aging Research, pulled data from the Minimum Data Set assessments completed quarterly on all nursing home residents in the U.S., including 71,251 residents with advanced dementia and dependence for eating.
The proportion of residents who received feeding tubes over the next 12 months declined from 12 percent in 2000 to 6 percent in 2014. However, black residents would more likely to have a feeding tube in 2000 and 2014 than white residents.
"To ensure the message from existing evidence and expert recommendations is disseminated and disparities are reduced, fiscal and regulatory policies are needed that discourage tube feeding and promote a palliative approach to feeding problems in patients with advanced dementia," the study concludes.