P1161 Prevalence of undernutrition in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and improvement after nutritional advice

Abstract

Abstract Background The prevalence of undernutrition ranges from 25% to 70% and severe undernutrition from 1% to 30% among individuals with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aetiology of malnutrition is multifactorial. There are not many studies that have assessed nutrition after therapy modification and dietary advice. Aim To study the prevalence of undernutrition in IBD and the change after nutritional advice. Methods In this single-centre prospective cohort study, 218 consecutive patients with IBD were screened. Patients with associated diseases that could lead to undernutrition were excluded (N=18). Nutritional assessment was done as per the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) definition: BMI <18.5 kg/m2 or unintentional weight loss >10% were defined as undernutrition and the Malnutrition Inflammation Risk Tool (MIRT) score was calculated. Obesity was defined as per the WHO Asian BMI classification: grade 1 (BMI 25-29.9 Kg/m2) and obesity grade 2 (BMI >30 Kg/m2)1. Patients were given nutritional advice and therapy was optimized as per disease activity. BMI and MIRT were calculated on subsequent visits to assess response to nutritional advice. Results Of 200 patients (median age 39 [IQR 28-53] years; 96 females), 105 had ulcerative colitis (UC), 93 Crohn’s disease (CD), and 2 IBD-unclassified. Fifty-four (27%) patients had undernutrition (28 UC, 25 CD, and 1 IBD-U). Sixty-one (30.5%) patients were obese. At follow up (median duration 24 months), of 37/54 patients with BMI <18.5 Kg/m2, BMI increased in 24 (64.8%) and decreased in 13 (35.1%); of 17 patients with >10% unintentional weight loss, 5 (29.4%) had increased weight on follow-up. MIRT score decreased in 24/54 patients (44.4%), remained same in 14 (25.9%), and increased in 16 patients (29.6%). Of the 24 patients with decrease in MIRT score, 7/24 (29.1%) received only dietary advice, 10 (41.6%) received dietary advice and optimization of IBD treatment, and 7 (29.1%) received only optimization of IBD treatment. Conclusion The prevalence of undernutrition and obesity in patients with IBD was 27% and 30.5%, respectively. After dietary advice and therapy optimization, nutrition improved in 53.7% while MIRT score decreased in 43.3% of patients.