Malnutrition in hospitalized patients: results from La Rioja.

BACKGROUND: There is a high malnutrition prevalence in hospitalized patients. AIM: To determine the malnutrition prevalence in hospitalized patients of La Rioja Community (Spain) when evaluated with different screening/ evaluation tools and its relationship with hospital stay and mortality. METHODS: Cross sectional observational study of hospitalized adult patients (age > 18 years old) from medical and surgical departments that underwent within 72 h of their admission a nutritional screening with Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002, Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) y Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). RESULTS: 384 patients (273 medical and 111 surgical) were evaluated. Almost fifty percent of them were considered malnourished independently of the screening/assessment tool used. High concordance was found between SGA and NRS-2002 (k = 0.758). Malnourished patients had a longer hospital stay than those well-nourished (9.29 vs. 7.10 days; p = 0.002), used a greater number of medicines (9.2 vs. 7.4; p = 0.001) and underwent a higher number of diagnostic tests (16.4 vs. 12.5; p = 0,002). CONCLUSIONS: Half of the hospitalized patients in the medical and surgical department of La Rioja are malnourished. This is associated with a longer hospital stay, higher use of medicines, diagnostics tests and greater mortality. Malnutrition could be detected with easy screening tools to treat it appropriately.

Malnutrition in hospitalized patients: results from La Rioja / Desnutrición en pacientes hospitalizados: resultados en La Rioja

Background: There is a high malnutrition prevalence in hospitalized patients. Aim: To determine the malnutrition prevalence in hospitalized patients of La Rioja Community (Spain) when evaluated with different screening/ evaluation tools and its relationship with hospital stay and mortality. Methods: Cross sectional observational study of hospitalized adult patients (age > 18 years old) from medical and surgical departments that underwent within 72 h of their admission a nutritional screening with Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002, Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) y Subjective Global Assessment (SGA). Results: 384 patients (273 medical and 111 surgical) were evaluated. Almost fifty percent of them were considered malnourished independently of the screening/assessment tool used. High concordance was found between SGA and NRS-2002 (k = 0.758). Malnourished patients had a longer hospital stay than those well-nourished (9.29 vs. 7.10 days; p = 0.002), used a greater number of medicines (9.2 vs. 7.4; p = 0.001) and underwent a higher number of diagnostic tests (16.4 vs. 12.5; p = 0,002). Conclusions: Half of the hospitalized patients in the medical and surgical department of La Rioja are malnourished. This is associated with a longer hospital stay, higher use of medicines, diagnostics tests and greater mortality. Malnutrition could be detected with easy screening tools to treat it appropriately (AU)

Antecedentes: existe una alta prevalencia de malnutrición en los pacientes hospitalizados. Objetivo: conocer la prevalencia de la desnutrición en la comunidad de La Rioja con distintos métodos de cribado/valoración nutricional y su relación con la estancia media y mortalidad. Métodos: estudio transversal de 384 pacientes mayores de 18 años (273 pacientes en servicios médicos y 111 en servicios quirúrgicos), a los que se les realizó en las primeras 72 horas del ingreso un cribado/valoración nutricional con MUST (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool), NRS-2002 (Nutritional Risk Screening), CONUT (Controlling Nutritional Status) y VGS (Subjective Global Assessment). Resultados: la desnutrición fue observada en más del 50% de los pacientes independientemente del método de cribado/valoración nutricional utilizado. Existe una fuerte concordancia entre la VGS y el NRS-2002. La desnutrición se relaciona con aumento de la estancia hospitalaria (9,29 vs. 7,10 días; p = 0,002), mayor consumo de fármacos (9,2 vs. 7,4; p = 0,001) y mayor consumo de pruebas diagnósticas durante la estancia hospitalaria (16,4 vs. 12,5; p = 0,002). Conclusiones: uno de cada dos pacientes hospitalizados en la comunidad de La Rioja está desnutrido. La desnutrición se relaciona con aumento de la estancia hospitalaria, aumento de la utilización de pruebas diagnósticas, mayor consumo de medicamentos y aumento de la mortalidad. La desnutrición puede ser detectada con medidas de cribado nutricional sencillas que permitirían tratarla adecuadamente (AU)