Nutritional status of adults and elderly patients admitted in an university hospital

Authors

  • Nathálie Crestani Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Patrícia Bieger Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Raquel Milani El Kik PUCRS
  • Raquel da Luz Dias PUCRS
  • Sônia Alscher PUCRS
  • Rafaela Siviero Caron Lienert HSL/PUCRS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1983-652X.2011.2.8520

Keywords:

nutritional assessment, nutritional status, malnutrition

Abstract

Objective: To identify the nutritional status of adults and elderly patients admitted in an university hospital. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, retrospective and descriptive study. The nutritional assessment was conducted by using the body mass index (BMI) and the subjective global assessment (SGA), which classifies patients into three categories: well nourished (A), moderately or suspected of being malnourished (B) or severely malnourished (C). All data (SGA, BMI and primary condition) were collected from information present in the evaluation forms filled in the nutritional routine, which are performed within seventy-two hours after admission. The study was approved by the Scientific and Ethics Committee for Research of PUCRS. Results: The study included 32 adults and 36 elderly (n=68). In relation to the SGA, 46,9% of adults were classified as well nourished (A) and 53,1% as moderately (or suspected of being) malnourished (B). Among elderly patients, 25% were classified as well nourished (A) and 75% as moderately (or suspected of being) malnourished (B). The BMI showed 37,5% of adults as eutrophic and 62,5% as overweight or obesity; the elderly were classified as 50% eutrophic, 36,1% overweight and 13,9% underweight. Conclusion: The nutritional status of the studied patients was characterized by the high prevalence of nutritional risk and overweight/obesity in both groups. This reality seems to translate, at the hospital level, the situation of nutritional transition experienced in our country today. In addition, the results point the importance of using more than one method of nutrition screening in patients admitted in hospitals, in order to obtain greater precision in the assessment.

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Published

2011-12-12

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2011)

Section

Original Articles

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