Date07/17/2014

The AGS released an updated position statement on the use of feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia.  The statement was last updated by the AGS Ethics Committee and approved by the AGS Clinical Practice & Models of Care Committee in May 2013.  The publication of several sentinel studies in recent years further details the natural history of eating difficulties, as well as burdens associated with tube feeding use in persons with advanced dementia, and have been added to the guideline. The updated statement on the use of feeding tubes iincludes an extended rationale behind the 2013 recommendations, which reinforce careful hand feeding in place of using a tube feeding.  Tube feeding is associated with agitation, increased use of physical and chemical restraints, and the development of pressure ulcers. Efforts to enhance oral feeding by altering the environment and creating patient-centered approaches to feeding should be part of usual care for older adults with advanced dementia.