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VOLUME 17 , ISSUE 3 ( June, 2013 ) > List of Articles

SHORT COMMUNICATION

Prevalence of malnutrition in a tertiary care hospital in India

Babita Hazarika

Keywords : Indian intensive care unit, malnutrition, subjective global nutritional assessment

Citation Information : Hazarika B. Prevalence of malnutrition in a tertiary care hospital in India. Indian J Crit Care Med 2013; 17 (3):170-173.

DOI: 10.4103/0972-5229.117058

License: CC BY-ND 3.0

Published Online: 01-06-2014

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2013; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction: Malnutrition adversely affects clinical outcome of hospitalized patients. This observational prospective study was done to assess the prevalence of malnutrition and its grade among patients admitted in a mixed intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital in order to help devise a comprehensive nutrition program for the malnourished. Materials and Methods: A total of 500 sequential patients admitted to the ICU were screened on admission over a year period for malnutrition using the Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment (SGNA) score. Distribution of the degree of malnutrition according to co-morbidities was also documented. Results: Of the total, 198 (39.6%) patients were malnourished, including one patient qualifying as severely malnourished; 68% patients were male, however, there was no statistically significant difference between nutrition status between sexes. Hypertension, diabetes, and cancer were the three most commonly encountered co-morbidities among the malnourished. A total of 86% of all cancer patients admitted were malnourished against only 12% of trauma patients. Conclusion: This study showed that almost two-fifth of the patients admitted were malnourished in this tertiary care hospital and that there is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive nutritional care program in many such Indian ICUs.


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