A new study looks at what keeps older adults from getting sufficient fluids to avoid negative health outcomes. 

New research stresses the importance of staying hydrated as we get older.
Staying hydrated seems simple enough. Yet studies have shown that somewhere between about one-third and one-half of older adults may be dehydrated, increasing their risk of health problems.

Dehydrated people hospitalized with a stroke are more than twice as likely to experience impairment afterward.

According to a paper appearing in Age and Ageing, widespread misconceptions about maintaining proper hydration are partly to blame.

Cini Bhanu, from the Department of Primary Care and Population Health at University College London, United Kingdom, is the first and corresponding author of the new study.

“Keeping well hydrated is key to good health among older people, reducing the risk of hospital admissions and other poor health outcomes. However, many do not link hydration to good health and are unsure of how much to drink.”

Cini Bhanu

The study’s participants
The goal of the study was to examine the factors that might be preventing older adults from consuming enough fluids.

The researchers interviewed 24 generally healthy people aged 75 years or older living in their own homes in north and central London in the U.K. They selected the interviewees by age, gender, ethnicity, and frailty status.

The team excluded people living in nursing homes and anyone receiving treatment for cancer or palliative care. They also chose not to include people who lacked the ability to provide consent or exhibited signs of dementia.

Likewise, they did not conduct any interviews with those who had health-related dietary restrictions, were unable to swallow, or could not feed themselves.

Bhanu and team also interviewed nine caregivers.

The seeming impossibility of hydration
The study identified several misunderstandings about hydration that discouraged interviewees from even trying to drink enough fluids.

How much is enough?
A number of participants revealed confusion regarding the recommended level of fluids necessary to maintain healthy hydration. Older people have certainly seen medical opinions change over the years regarding what is healthy and what is not.

“Quite frankly, I don’t know. I know that everything has changed: sometimes it’s three or four, [and] at one stage we were told we ought to drink 3 liters of water a day or something like that.”

Male interviewee, age 80–84 years