Relationship of the Nutritional Status at the Time of Admission to Mortality and the Length of the Hospital Stay

PURPOSE: The length of a patient's stay in a hospital is an indication of the patient's recovery rate. The length of the hospital stay has an important economic factor for hospitals. This study was conducted to determine the relationship of the nutritional status at the time of admission to mortality and the length of the hospital stay (LOHS). METHODS: The study subjects were 1,619 patients who suffered with cancer, were admitted to Kosin University Gospel Hospital during 2005 and they met the study criteria. The patients were classified to the not at risk group, the patients having one risk factor for malnutrition were the I group, the patients having two risk factors for malnutrition were the II group, the patients having three risk factors for malnutrition were the III group and the patients having 4 risk factors for malnutrition were the IV group, based on the established criteria of serum albumin or =240 mg/dl or or =120% or <90% ideal body weight. RESULTS: 24.3% of the patients were classified into the not at risk group, 37.6% were classified into the at risk group I, 24.2% were classified into the at risk group II, 10.3% were classified into the at risk group III and 3.6% were classified into the at risk group IV. The at risk group (at risk III, at risk IV) had a significantly higher prevalence of liver disease. The relationship between liver disease and low serum albu-min levels may have confounded the data. Although the estimated LOHS was similar in all the groups, the average length of stay was 14.4+/-16.38 days in the malnourished group (at risk group IV) compared to approximately 2.8 days in the not at risk group. The more nutritional risk factors the patients had, the longer was the LOHS and the mortality rates were higher. Correlation was not observed between the risk factors and the length of the hospital stay, as well as the lack of correlation with the mortality rate. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a patient's nutritional status upon admission has an effect on the length of the hospital stay for patients with carcinoma.

Nutritional Status in Elderly Gastric Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is one of the important factors influencing morbidity and mortality in elderly patients with gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Since September to December 2001, we investigated the nutritional parameters of 44 elderly patients with gastric carcinoma by measuring anthropometric and biochemical blood indices and assessing dietary intake along with subjective global assessment. RESULTS: The mean body mass index of subjects was below the physical average of korea on the base of 64 years old. The ratio of carbohydrate, protein and lipid to energy intake was 74.0:13.5:12.5(%). There were significantly positive correlations between three groups according to subjective global assessment and height, body weight, 1 month weight loss %, 6 month weight loss %, body mass index, transferrin and nutrient intake, such as energy, protein and niacin. CONCLUSION: Mean nutrient intake, such as total energy, protein and niacin appear to be related of subjective global assessment in elderly subjects. Nutritional assessment by nutrient intake should be done in elderly patients with gastric carcinoma and be supplied with adequate nutrition for them.