4.7. Strengths and Limitations
In this study, the statistical power was 0.99, which indicates a high possibility of identifying a true effect. Additionally, several nursing homes participated in the study. However, some limitations of this study should be addressed. First, the study was conducted between November 2021 and March 2023, when Taiwan was affected by COVID-19. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, nursing homes had strict requirements, including controlling visitor entry, weekly rapid tests on residents and caregivers, and quarantine measures. This policy and situation both limited researchers from collecting the questionnaires face-to-face with residents and may have created biases due to self-reporting of the questionnaires. Second, since the dietitian only provided a summary of total energy intake, nutrient intake details were not calculated. Third, a portable body composition scale was used in this study because it can conveniently be moved between nursing homes. Although the portable body composition scale was cited in previous studies [