Experience and the nutritional relevance of protein-enriched ice cream in patients with heart failure - A pilot study

Background: Patients with heart failure have a greater risk of malnutrition and need an enhanced intake of nutrients. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe how patients admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit with heart failure, experience the intake of a protein-enriched ice cream, served as an in-between meal, and to explore this diet supplement's nutritional relevance in these patients. Method: In the pilot study, interviews, and collection of diaries with both a qualitative and quantitative approach were used. Inductive, qualitative content analysis was performed of the interviews while data from the diaries were analysed with descriptive analysis. Results: The enriched ice cream supplement was perceived as appealing and tasty despite the patients illness and malaise. Different opinions about consistency were experienced according to the patients’ individual condition and they made further flavour suggestions. The patients ingested between 500 and 2550 ml each of the ice cream during the study period. Conclusion: The patients’ experiences can be valuable in order to improve the in-between meal/food snack thus improving the nutritional status of weak patients lacking appetite. The method used requires to be further developed to assess nutritional relevance for patients when consuming a protein-enriched ice cream.