Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the medical students’ knowledge about perioperative nutritional care. These students are from public and private academic institutions in the state of Bahia, Brazil. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study to analyze medical students based on an online instrument regarding topics related to perioperative care. For data analysis, absolute and relative frequencies were calculated for categorical variables, and mean and standard deviation were calculated for continuous variables. Fisher's Exact Test and G Test were used to analyze the association. Results: 209 responses were obtained. Regarding the learning on nutritional preparation of the patient submitted to a surgery, 25 (64.9%) students of public institutions and 90 (52.3%) students of private ones reported not knowing or not having been exposed to such knowledge. Regarding the importance of addressing topics related to nutritional therapy (NT), 37 (100%) students from public institutions and 168 (97.7%) from private ones recognize the importance of spreading this knowledge. Unnecessary absolute preoperative fasting, shortening techniques of fasting and bronchoaspiration prevention and reintroduction time of a diet in the postoperative period are unknown to most of the population studied. CONCLUSION: Most students included in this study do not have satisfactory knowledge in NT and for preparing the surgical patient.
Highlights
According to DATASUS, in 2018, 4,823,517 surgical procedures occurred in Brazil, with 3.6 average days of hospitalization per person, generating an average cost of R$ 1,613.47 per patient and 76,442 deaths.[1]
These data demonstrate how surgeries affects public health and highlight the importance of understanding more about the factors that interfere in the process of surgical patient care to reduce hospitalization time, mortality, and government costs.[2]
Given the understanding of the nutrition importance in front of surgical patients, as well as gaps in scientific evidence about the knowledge of medical students about Nutritional Therapy (NT), this study aims to evaluate the knowledge of medical students from public and private institutions in the state of Bahia, Brazil, about perioperative nutritional care
Summary
According to DATASUS, in 2018, 4,823,517 surgical procedures occurred in Brazil, with 3.6 average days of hospitalization per person, generating an average cost of R$ 1,613.47 per patient and 76,442 deaths.[1] These data demonstrate how surgeries affects public health and highlight the importance of understanding more about the factors that interfere in the process of surgical patient care to reduce hospitalization time, mortality, and government costs.[2]. Among the factors that interfere in the success of surgery, the patient's nutritional status stands out.[3] Several studies have shown that malnourished patients have a higher risk of postoperative complications and mortality.[3] The Brazilian hospital nutritional assessment survey (IBRANUTRI) identified that almost 50% of patients admitted to the Public Health System of Brazil (SUS) have some degree of malnutrition, ranging from moderate to severe.[4] Nutritional Therapy (NT) arises in this context as an alternative for preventing hospital malnutrition. The main objectives of NT are the following: (I) prevent and treat malnutrition, (II) prepare the patient for the surgical procedure, (III) improve the immune and scar response, (IV) modulate the organic response to surgical treatment, (V) reduce hospital stay time, (VI) reduce mortality and, (VII) reduce hospital costs.[5]
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