N/A
N=32
The RELISH Study: Compliance and Palatability of Oral Nutritional Supplements in Hospitalised Older Adults
Malnutrition
Bottom Line
View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05620082 ↗Enrolled (actual)
32
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
Jun 2025
Primary outcome: Primary: Percentage of the Mean Oral Nutritional Supplement Consumed Per Day (%) — 26.31; 66.8 percentage of supplement consumed — p=0.01
Study Design & Population
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- N/A
- Interventions
- Standard liquid-based oral nutritional supplement (Dietary_supplement); Fortified porridge (Dietary_supplement)
- Age
- Older Adult · 65+ yrs
- Sex
- All
- Sponsor
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
- Primary completion
- Dec 2024
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Percentage of the Mean Oral Nutritional Supplement Consumed Per Day (%) |
26.31; 66.8 | 0.01 sig |
| PRIMARY Energy (kcal) Consumed |
141.41; 450.69 | 0.002 sig |
| PRIMARY Protein Intake (g) |
9.09; 26.51 | 0.003 sig |
| PRIMARY Palatability of Oral Nutritional Supplement |
5; 6.5; 4; 5.5; 4; 6.5 | 0.10 |
| SECONDARY Total Caloric Intake (kcal) |
790; 703.25; 534.25 | 0.004 sig |
Summary
The RELISH study will investigate a new oral nutritional supplement (fortified porridge) for older adults in hospital who are undernourished (i.e., have malnutrition). Malnutrition is a lack of nutritional intake that can lead to poor recovery from illness, increasing hospital length of stay, and elevating healthcare costs. 22% of hospitalised older adults are estimated to have malnutrition. Oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) is key in the management of malnutrition. ONS are energy and nutrient dense products designed to increase dietary intake when diet alone is insufficient to meet daily nutritional requirements. However, for the ONS to be effective they need to be palatable (i.e., taste good), so that patients consume them (i.e., have good compliance) to reap the benefits of extra calories and protein. Normally, hospital patients are offered liquid based ONS (sip feeds). However, previous research has pinpointed that 56% of older adults on geriatric wards did not like sip feeds. Hence, exploration of compliance to different ONS formats is an important research direction to maximise malnourished older adult's nutritional intake. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the compliance and palatability of novel fortified porridge compared to traditional sip-feeds in malnourished older adults in hospital.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- Older adults ≥65 years
- Patients on University Hospital Southampton (UHS) acute medical wards
- Medium-high risk of malnutrition (MUST score 1-4)
- Able to provide written consent
Exclusion Criteria
- Patients that have used ONS in previous month
- Receiving enteral or parental nutrition
- Patients with a MUST score >4 (severely malnourished)
- Patients with a BMI ≤15
- Patients with chronic liver disease, renal failure, dysphagia
- Patients who have had major surgery within the preceding month
- Patients with a terminal illness
- Patients receiving end of life care
- Patients unable to eat by mouth (Nil By Mouth [NBM])
- Patients who require alternative ONS as advised by dietetic support
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05620082). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.