The CONUT score predicts the length of hospital stay and the risk of long COVID.

Abstract

Objective: the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is an objective tool widely used to assess nutritional status of patients. We aimed to investigate the value of CONUT score on predicting length of hospital stay (LOS) and the risk of long COVID in patients with COVID-19. Methods: a total of 151 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled for analysis. Patients were followed up for two years from three months after the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONUT score was calculated on admission. The correlation between CONUT score and LOS were assessed by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and multivariate linear analysis. The association between different CONUT grade and long COVID was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard models. Results: Spearman's rank correlation coefficient showed that CONUT scores were positively correlated with LOS (r = 0.469, p < 0.001). Multivariate linear analysis showed that CONUT score is the only independent determinant of LOS (B 2.055, 95 % CI: 1.067-3.043, p < 0.001). A total of 53 (35.10 %) patients with long COVID were identified. Kaplan-Meier cumulative survival curves and Cox proportional hazards analyses showed that the incidence of long COVID in patients with a higher CONUT score was significantly higher than in patients with lower CONUT score (p < 0.001). Conclusions: higher CONUT score predicts longer LOS and the risk of long COVID in patients with COVID-19. The CONUT score might be useful for risk stratification in COVID-19 patients and help to develop new nutritional treatment strategies for long COVID.