Tube Feeding in Individuals with Advanced Dementia: A Review of Its Burdens and Perceived Benefits.

Conclusion: Tube feeding neither stops dementia disease progression nor prevents imminent death. Each decision for feeding tube placement in individuals with advanced dementia should be made on a case-by-case basis and involve a multidisciplinary team comprising experienced physicians, nurses, family surrogates, and the relevant allied health professionals. Careful considerations of the benefit-harm ratio should be discussed and checked with surrogate families if they would be consistent with the wishes of the demented person. Further research is required to establish whether tube feeding of individuals with advanced dementia provides more burdens than benefits or vice-versa and evaluate the impacts on quality of life and survival. PMID: 31929906 [PubMed]
Source: Journal of Aging Research - Category: Geriatrics Tags: J Aging Res Source Type: research