Results of the 2010 Anaïs Study

Conducted in 2010, the objective of the Anaïs pilot study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a survey designed to describe, in metropolitan France, the nutritional status (dietary intake, physical activity, and nutritional status), mental health, and medication use of older adults living in long-term care facilities. The large-scale study will therefore combine a questionnaire-based survey with anthropometric and biological measurements.
The pilot study was conducted at six long-term care facilities (two group homes, three residential care facilities for dependent elderly individuals, and one long-term care unit, USLD) in the Indre-et-Loire department. In each facility, 25 residents aged 75 and older were selected at random.
The ineligibility rate was 13%, mainly due to the age threshold adopted and difficulties in contacting legal representatives. The resident participation rate was 53% among those eligible. The pilot study identified the most significant barriers to conducting the future survey: low acceptance rate among guardians, limited availability of staff at the surveyed facilities, and the extreme vulnerability of residents in long-term care units (USLD), which made data collection difficult... The findings of this study will enable adjustments to the protocol for the national phase, particularly regarding the scope of the study, the organization of data collection, and the monitoring of the contractor’s work. This report presents a summary of these various elements.