SUBNUTRIÇÃO EM UNIDADES DE TRATAMENTO ONCOLÓGICO: TAREFA PARA A SUPLEMENTAÇÃO NUTRICIONAL PRECOCE?

In Brazil, the high complexity of the oncology care network is composed of general hospitals qualified to diagnose and treat the most frequent types of cancer in their respective insertion regions. The study sought to determine the prevalence of malnutrition, its main risk factors and the preventive / corrective strategies adopted in patients recently admitted to a regional hospital for cancer care in the Triângulo Mineiro-MG, Brazil. This is a retrospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study, with data collected from medical records of patients over 18 years old, recently admitted (up to 72h) for admission to the hospital, between April 14 and 26, 2012. The study was authorized by Hospital and of the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro (protocol No. 922,449). Data from 122 patients were used. The global prevalence of malnutrition was 44.3% (nutritional risk + malnutrition detected by Subjective Global Assessment). The most frequent site of malignant neoplasms was the digestive system, 35.9% of the cases. Age> 60 years (p = 0.032), as well as cancer in the digestive system (p = 0.002) were associated with an increased risk of malnutrition. Only 5.7% of patients were receiving nutritional supplementation at the time of nutritional assessment. Therefore, a high prevalence of malnutrition was found associated with a low use of nutritional supplementation among newly admitted patients. Considering the severity of the disease, the nature of a hospital specializing in cancer care and the risk factors identified, it is necessary to encourage the early use of nutritional supplements in that hospital.