Impact of Comprehensive Dietary Counseling on Dietary Quality, Mental Health, and Quality of Life in Older Adults

NCT03702335 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: S3
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

As a person ages, an incidence of mental distress such as depression and anxiety increases while the quality of life decreases. Singapore's population is aging rapidly and older adults may suffer from mental distress and deteriorated quality of life. Recent evidence suggests that good nutrition is essential for mental health and quality of life in older adults. Previous research reported that provision of nutrition education and cooking workshops to people with mental illness for 3 months achieved healthy dietary change and improved mental health. This proposed study aims to further assess the effect of comprehensive dietary counselling on dietary quality, cardio-metabolic, mental health, sleep quality, and quality of life through a 24-wk parallel intervention study in Singapore older adults. The investigators hypothesised that older adults who receive comprehensive dietary counselling will improve dietary quality, cardio-metabolic health, mental health, sleep quality, and quality of life when compared to older adults who do not receive comprehensive dietary counselling.

Conditions

Aging; Age Problem; Age-related Cognitive Decline; Age-Related Atrophy

Keywords

Older adults; Dietary consultation; Mental health; Sleep quality; Dietary quality; Cardio-metabolic health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Change in diet

  Dietary assessment, 3-day food record (participant)

  Every 2 week for the first 12 weeks and every 4 weeks for the last 12 weeks (Week 0, week 2, week 4, week 6, week 8, week 10, week 12, week 16, week 20, week 24)

• Change in mental health status

  Mental Health Questionnaire - Consisting of basic health screen recording anthropometric measurements, visual functioning questionnaire scale (1; Good, 2; Acceptable, 3; Poor), Lifestyle (0; Never, 1; 1-3 times/month, 2; 1-3 times/week, 3; 4-6 times/week, 4; daily), depression scale (Yes or no questionnaire)

  Every 4 weeks (Week 0, week 4, week 8, week 12, week 16, week 20 and week 24)

• Change in quality of life

  Quality of Life Questionnaire * Subjective scale rating (1; very dissatisfied, 2; dissatisfied, 3; neither satisfied not dissatisfied, 4; satisfied, 5; very satisfied) assessing quality of life, health and other areas of life.

  Every 4 weeks (Week 0, week 4, week 8, week 12, week 16, week 20 and week 24)

• Change in sleep quality

  Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Assessment (PSQI) - Recall based questionnaire assessing sleep habits for the past one month only which includes sleeping timing habits and quality of sleep (Very good, Fairly good, Fairly bad and very bad)

  Every 4 weeks (Week 0, week 4, week 8, week 12, week 16, week 20 and week 24)

Secondary Outcomes (11)

• Change in diet

  Every 12 weeks (Week 0, week 12 and week 24)

• Change in weight

  Every 4 weeks (Week 0, week 4, week 8, week 12, week 16, week 20 and week 24)

• Change in waist circumference

  Every 4 weeks (Week 0, week 4, week 8, week 12, week 16, week 20 and week 24)

• Change in blood pressure

  Every 4 weeks (Week 0, week 4, week 8, week 12, week 16, week 20 and week 24)

• Change in total cholesterol

  Every 12 weeks (Week 0, week 12, and week 24)

Study Arms (2)

Dietary Counselling

EXPERIMENTAL

Each subject will receive a comprehensive dietary counselling for the first 12-weeks of the study, which will be followed by another 12-weeks without dietary counselling.

Behavioral: Dietary Counselling

No Dietary Counselling

NO INTERVENTION

Subjects in the control group will be followed for 24-weeks without any dietary counselling.

Interventions

Dietary Counselling BEHAVIORAL

Intervention group will be given a comprehensive dietary guidance on how to choose healthier options when eating out, as well as how to personally prepare a healthy meals.

Dietary Counselling

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Gender Eligibility Details: Female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Able to give an informed consent
• Age ≥60 years
• No weight change \>3kg in the past 3 months
• Not exercising vigorously over the past 3 months
• Does not have any intestinal disorders, including lactose intolerance
• No acute illness
• Non-smoker
• Non-vegetarian
• Not drinking more than 2 alcoholic drinks/day
• Not taking any lipid-lowering and blood pressure controlling medications less than 3 years

You may not qualify if:

• Unable to give an informed consent
• Age \< 60 years
• Weight change \>3kg in the past 3 months
• Exercises vigorously over the past 3 months
• Have intestinal disorders, including lactose intolerence
• Having acute illness
• Smoking
• Vegetarian
• Drinking more than 2 alcoholic drinks/day
• Taking lipid-lowering and blood pressure controlling medications less than 3 years

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National University of Singapore: lead

Study Sites (2)

National University of Singapaore

Singapore, 117546, Singapore

ACTIVE NOT RECRUITING

Hannah Senior Activity Centre

Singapore, 590021, Singapore

RECRUITING

Related Publications (3)

• Parletta N, Zarnowiecki D, Cho J, Wilson A, Bogomolova S, Villani A, Itsiopoulos C, Niyonsenga T, Blunden S, Meyer B, Segal L, Baune BT, O'Dea K. A Mediterranean-style dietary intervention supplemented with fish oil improves diet quality and mental health in people with depression: A randomized controlled trial (HELFIMED). Nutr Neurosci. 2019 Jul;22(7):474-487. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2017.1411320. Epub 2017 Dec 7.

  PMID: 29215971 RESULT

• Bogomolova S, Zarnowiecki D, Wilson A, Fielder A, Procter N, Itsiopoulos C, O'Dea K, Strachan J, Ballestrin M, Champion A, Parletta N. Dietary intervention for people with mental illness in South Australia. Health Promot Int. 2018 Feb 1;33(1):71-83. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daw055.

  PMID: 27476869 RESULT

• Ting M, Low JHM, Lee DPS, Fam J, Mahendran R, Kua EH, Kim JE. Impact of dietary counselling on cardiometabolic health, mental health and dietary quality in Singapore older women. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2025 Dec 24:104536. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2025.104536. Online ahead of print.

  PMID: 41622098 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior; Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic; Dyssomnias; Sleep Wake Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Jung Eun Kim, PhD, RD

  National University of Singapore

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jung Eun Kim, PhD, RD

CONTACT

65161136; fstkje@nus.edu.sg

Jasmine Low, BSc (Hons)

CONTACT

94510860; jasmine.low@u.nus.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 5, 2018
• First Posted: October 11, 2018
• Study Start: November 13, 2018
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2021
• Study Completion: November 1, 2021
• Last Updated: September 2, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

SG (2)