Use of Eggs to Tackle Sarcopenia in Care Home Residents
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The use of eggs, combined with resistance exercise training, to tackle sarcopenia in care home residents (EGRET study)- a feasibility study.
IRAS ID
267028
Contact name
Kathryn Hart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The feasibility trial is a 12 week, randomised clinical trial to be performed in two UK care homes. Following screening and consent subjects from one care home will be randomised to one of two groups; increased protein and resistance exercise training (RET) or increased protein only. The second care home will act as the control group where standard care will continue.
Informed consent will be sought from each resident. Care home staff will identify any participants that lack the capacity to consent for themselves or who meet other exclusion criteria, both of which would therefore be ineligible.
The trial will aim to increase dietary protein, primarily from eggs, at breakfast and/or evening meal to 25-30g of protein per meal. Menus to provide the increased protein will be developed in conjunction with the care home. Dietary assessment will be undertaken before commencement of the intervention and at 6 and 12 weeks to monitor compliance and intake.
RET sessions will take place on 3 non-consecutive days per week, supervised by a physiotherapist/ exercise therapist. Each exercise will be repeated 8-12 times increasing to 3 sets over the 12 weeks. Before the intervention participants will be assessed by the physiotherapist/ exercise therapist who will advise on ability, starting weights and number of repetitions.
All participants will be screened for sarcopenia at baseline. Clinical outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks, including, muscle mass (estimated using bioimpedance data), muscle strength (assessed by hand grip strength) and physical performance (assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery test). Face to face interviews will be conducted with participants at 6 and 12 weeks to assess palatability of the menu changes. The practicality of the intervention will be assessed by focus groups and face to face interviews with staff following the intervention.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0252
Date of REC Opinion
29 Aug 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion