Older people are particularly at risk of dehydration, due to: |
Possible consequences of dehydration in older people include:
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Care Home Residents More Likely to be DehydratedResearch has found that a quarter of care home residents are dehydrated when admitted to hospital [37].
Considering the associated health risks, preventing dehydration is particularly important in this population. Current approaches often begin with an assessment of dehydration risk which determines the use of hydration techniques [16, 22]. However, there is limited evidence for what symptoms successfully identify dehydration in older people. Using common indicators including urine and thirst can miss a high proportion of dehydrated individuals [11]. |
The inconsistency of these methods suggests that a settings-based approach to ensure hydration promotion to all residents and not only those perceived as at risk may be a successful approach [10].