Malnutrition upon hospital admission and prolonged stay in a state hospital in the Province of Buenos Aires

Abstract

Introduction: hospital malnutrition, mainly linked to illness or injury, has a high prevalence worldwide. It is negatively associated with clinical and economic outcomes. Objective: to determine if there is an association between nutritional status and length of hospital stay. 
Materials and method: observational, descriptive and retrospective study was carried out in adult patients admitted to the Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos "San Roque" during 2019. For nutritional screening, the Malnutrition Screening Tool was used and for nutritional assessment, the Subjective Global Assessment. Length of hospital stay was calculated as the difference between the date of admission and discharge.
Results: 2296 patients were assessed. The global prevalence of malnutrition was 25,4%. Statistically significant differences were found between prolonged hospital stay and nutritional status; both in patients with moderate malnutrition [crude OR 2,75 (95% CI 2,1-3,4; p<0.0001)] and in patients with severe malnutrition [crude OR 5 (95% CI 3,5 - 7,0; p<0,0001)].
Conclusion: this study ref lects the high prevalence of malnutrition suffered by patients at hospital admission, as well as the increased risk of having longer stays when malnutrition exists.