Relationship between nutritional status and the clinical outcomes of critically ill children / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the nutritional status and the clinical outcome of the critically ill chil-dren,and to provide scientific evidence for further clinical nutrition management. Methods Nutritional risk screening was performed on 1183 critically ill children hospitalized at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU),Children′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from October 2016 to October 2017 by using the Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional Sta-tus and Growth (STRONGkids),the ICU including of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU),Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU)and Coronary Care Unit (CCU). Median age of the children was (2. 6 ± 2. 4)years (29 d - 12. 9 years). Nutritional status was estimated,and scores of anthropometric parameters such as weight - for - age Z - score (WAZ)(< 5 years)or body mass index - for - age Z - score (BAZ)(≥5 years)were calculated. The data on inci-dence of infectious complications,duration of ICU stay and mechanical ventilation,the total hospital expenses and in -hospital mortality were recorded. Results Of the 1183 cases,134 children(11. 3％)had low nutritional risk,746 children(63. 1％)had moderate nutritional risk and 303 children(25. 6％)high nutritional risk. The prevalence of se-vere malnutrition,moderate malnutrition and mild malnutrition was 8. 1％ (96 / 1183 cases),8. 2％ (97 / 1183 ca-ses),and 12. 8％ (151 / 1183 cases)respectively. The severe malnutrition group had a higher incidence of high nutri-tional risk than other groups [74. 0％(71 / 96 cases)vs. 67. 0％(65 / 97 cases),40. 4％(61/ 151 cases),12. 6％(106/839 cases)],and the differe-nce was statistically significant (P < 0. 001). The incidence of high nutritional risk in the CCU was higher than that than that in the PICU and SICU,and the difference was statistically significant [36. 5％(96 /263 cases),23. 8％(125 / 524 cases)and 20. 7％(82 / 396 cases)respectively,P < 0. 01]. And the incidence of high nutritional risk was higher in infants[37. 6％(198 / 527 cases)]than those in the other age groups[18. 4％(52 / 282 cases),12. 0％(21 / 175 cases),16. 0％(32 / 199 cases)],and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 68. 90, P < 0. 0001). Children with a high nutritional risk had increased incidence of infectious complications [8. 6％(26 / 303 cases)vs. 4. 7％ (35 / 746 cases),3. 7％ (5 / 134 cases)],incidence of mechanical ventilation [66. 0％ (200 / 303 cases)vs. 41. 4％(309 / 746 cases),38. 8％(52 / 134 cases)]and total hospital expenses (￥ 52500 vs. ￥ 39700 and￥ 48700 RMB)compared with those with the moderate or the low nutritional risk,and the differences were statistically significant(all P < 0. 05). There were 16 deaths and 8 deaths (2. 7％)in the high nutrition risk group,which was sig-nificantly higher than those in the moderate nutrition risk group [8 cases (1. 1％)]and the low nutrition risk group [0 case(0)](χ2 = 7. 60,P = 0. 02). Conclusions Moderate or high nutritional risk is seen in the critically ill chil-dren,especially in infants and the children with congenital heart disease. Nutritional risk score is correlated with clinical outcomes. Nutritional risk screening and standard nutritional support are recommended so as to improve clinical treat-ment outcomes.