Epidemiological characteristics of home enteral nutrition in patients from a Chinese tertiary hospital in 2021: A cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Home enteral nutrition was reported to be a treatment reducing malnutrition rates and improving the rational allocation of medical resources. We aim to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and improved the management of home enteral nutrition. 3953 patients with home enteral nutrition were enrolled in West China Hospital, located in Sichuan province, between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. 7238 visit records (3429 females and 3809 males) were included. The median age was 59.0, with the age from 1 to 115. The top two diseases were oncologic disorders (40.3%) and digestive disorders (15.9%). Oral nutritional supplements (86.2%) was the major treatment of home enteral nutrition. The median daily energy intake and daily protein intake were 575.1 kcal and 31.2 g. 25.8%, 39.3%, 34.9% patients choose online clinic (1867), offline clinic (2843) and hospital to home (2528) respectively. Interestingly, 63.6% patients were revisited, and the rate of online clinic, offline clinic and hospital to home was increasingly lower (91.9%, 71.5%, 33.8%) among them, revealing online clinic improving the revisit rate. Most patients lived in Chengdu (60.5%), and 67.4% patients from Chengdu were revisited. The median monthly cost of hospital to home patients (¥ 1863.8) was higher than the total median monthly cost (¥ 1714.5), illustrating the cost may reduce the revisit rate. Distance, cost and convenience may be the key factors to determine the method of visit and revisit in patients of home enteral nutrition. Online clinic may enhance the patients' follow-up.