Nutritional risk screening and application of nutritional support among inpatients in the middle and small hospitals in Guizhou province

Abstract

Objective To investigate the prevalence of the nutritional risks, undernutrition, overweight,and obesity, and the application of nutritional support in hospitalized patients in middle and small hospitals of Guizhou province. Methods Adult patients in the departments of general surgery, chest surgery, neurology, gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, and nephrology in four hospitals in Guizhou Province were consecutively enrolled from Feberary 2008 to March 2009. Nutrional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) was performed on the next morning after admission and nutritional support was evaluated on the 14 day of admission or on the discharge day.The relationship between nutritional risk and nutritional support was analyzed. Nutritional risk was defined as NRS 2002 score≥3 and under-nutrition was defined as body mass index ＜ 18.5 kg/m2. Results A total of 1668 patients were enrolled and underwent, NRS 2002 scoring. The nutritional risk was 30. 2% and the prevalence of malnutrition was 12.2%. Although 54 patients ( 11.7 % ) with NRS 2002 ≥ 3 received nutrition support, only parenteral nutrition was applied. Conclusions NRS 2002 is a feasible nutritional risk screening tool for patients in middle and small hospitals. The application of nutrition support is still at a low level, with only parenteral nutrition is applied. Evidence-based nutrition support guidelines are required to standardize the application of nutrition support. Key words: Undernutrition; Nutritional Risk Screening 2002; Overweight; Obesity; Nutrition support