Prevalence of nosocomial malnutrition among inpatients in a nonprofit hospital in Salvador (BA), Brazil

Abstract

This cross-sectional epidemiologic study assessed the nutritional status of 244 inpatients in a nonprofit hospital in Salvador (Bahia), Brazil, in March 2002 in order to find the prevalence of nosocomial malnutrition and point out the relevance of the available tools and resources for fighting it. The database used was that from the company dealing with chemotherapeutics, enteral and parenteral nutrition - "Produtos e Serviços Hospitalares". More than half of the inpatients (63.11%) were found to be undernourished. Nosocomial malnutrition was shown to increase with hospital stay: while 46% of the subjects were found to be malnourished in the first five days, that number rose to 68% between the fifth and the fifteenth day and escalated to 83% for those inpatients staying more than fifteen days. The highest malnutrition rates were observed in subjects undergoing digestive tract treatments (14.34%), followed by those with neoplasia (9.84%). Although both nutritional assessment and therapy were shown to be available, only 8.61% of all subjects in this study were found to have received any kind of enteral therapy during their stay, and enteral nutrition was given to 7.79% of the malnourished ones. The health team was therefore shown to lack both knowledge and care as far as the inpatients' nutritional status is concerned, as it is evidenced in the low rate of nutritional interventions and the limited use of the available tools and resources to improve such status.