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The Facilitated Early Enteral and Dietary Management Effectiveness Trial in Hospitalized Patients With Malnutrition
Author(s) -
Somanchi Meena,
Tao Xuguang,
Mullin Gerard E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.935
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1941-2444
pISSN - 0148-6071
DOI - 10.1177/0148607110392234
Subject(s) - malnutrition , medicine , parenteral nutrition , anthropometry , confounding , cohort , intervention (counseling) , pediatrics , randomized controlled trial , enteral administration , cohort study , intensive care medicine , nursing
Background: The prevalence of malnutrition in the hospitalized setting is 30% to 55%. Previous studies reported an association of malnutrition with an increased hospital length of stay (LOS), morbidity, and mortality of patients. This study evaluated the role of early nutrition intervention on LOS, diagnosis coding of malnutrition cases, calculating case mix index, and reducing delays in implementing nutrition support to patients. Methods: Demographic data, anthropometric measurements, LOS, and serum albumin levels were collected from 400 patients in 2 medical wards to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and potential delays in nutrition consultation. Based on these results, a nutrition intervention study was conducted in 1 ward; the other ward served as a control. Patients were classified as normally nourished or malnourished. Multivariate general linear regressions were used to reveal the impact of intervention on the change in LOS, controlling for other potential confounding factors on the cohort and a subset with severe malnutrition. Results: Of the 400 patients assessed, 53% had malnutrition. Multiple general linear regressions showed that nutrition intervention reduced LOS an average of 1.93 days in the cohort group and 3.2 days in the severe malnourished group. Case mix index and female gender were positively associated with LOS in the malnourished group. Nutrition intervention reduced the delays in implementing nutrition support to patients by 47%. Conclusions: Results highlight the positive impact of nutrition intervention in terms of reduced LOS in malnourished hospital patients. Reduction in LOS with diagnosis coding of malnutrition cases yielded substantial economic benefits.