Prevalence and characterization of an undernourished inpatient population with cardiopulmonary diagnoses upon hospital admission at four colombian hospitals

Rationale: Hospitalized adult patients have a high risk of malnutrition that negatively affects their health and economic outcomes (e.g., higher mor tality, costs, and probability of hospital readmission). This observational cohort study assessed the prevalence and characteristics of the under nourished inpatient population admitted at four Colombian hospitals for cardiopulmonary diagnoses.
Methods: Data from 800 patients admitted at San Ignacio University Hospital (HUSI), Fundacion Cardioinfantil (FCI), Hospital de San Jose (HSJ), and University Hospital Infantil de San Jose (HISJ) were analyzed. Patients were adults ( 18 years) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 42.63%) congestive heart failure (CHF, 33%), acute myocardial infarction (AMI, 28.88%), and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP, 25.75%). Patients had nutrition screening via the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) within 24 hours of hospital admission and were categorized as at-risk/malnourished (MST 2) or well-nourished (MST<2). Patients were followed for 30 days after discharge.
Results: Overall prevalence of malnutrition was 24.62%. Malnutrition prevalence ranged amongst the four hospitals; the highest prevalence was observed at HSJ (41.12%), followed by HUSI (25.38%), FCI (19.8%), and HISJ (13.71%). A positive MST result was associated with older age, lower level of education, female gender, and greater comorbidity. An increase of 1.5 days for hospital stay and 5.29% for mortality risk was observed for patients with a positive MST.
Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that malnutrition among patients with cardiopulmonary diagnosis receiving care in Colombian hospitals can be as high as 41.12%. Cardiopulmonary patients with a positive MST have different socio-demographic characteristics compared to patients with a negative MST. These characteristics may be predictors of worse health outcomes including longer hospital stay and increased mortality risk for hospitalized patients at-risk/malnourished, and therefore merit careful consideration by the clinical staff and further investigation.