Malnutrition risk prevalence and clinical outcomes among acute hospital inpatients in hong kong

Abstract

Introduction. Studies have suggested that 20% to 50% of inpatients are malnourished. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition risk in inpatients at an acute hospital and to evaluate the association between nutritional risk and clinical outcomes. Methods. Records of 40,105 adult patients admitted to our hospital between January and December 2016 were retrieved. We recorded patient Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) scores (range, 0-5) and outcomes after discharge from hospital such as length of hospital stay (LOS), 28-day emergency readmission rate, and death. The malnutrition risk was categorised into three levels according to MST score: low risk (0-1), medium risk (2), and high risk (=3). We made comparisons among the three groups, and between the low-risk group and the mediumand high-risk (at-risk) group. Results. The prevalence of malnutrition risk was 9.2%. Malnutrition risk was 12.0% among those aged =65 years and 6.1% among those aged 18 to 65 years. The low-, medium- and high-risk groups differed significantly in terms of the mean patient age (64.2 vs. 70.8 vs. 73.7 years, p<0.-..01) and the mean LOS (4.2 vs. 6.4 vs. 7.4 days, p<0.001). The emergency readmission rate within 28 days was higher in at-risk patients than in low-risk patients (25.1% vs. 14.6%, odds ratio=2.0, p<0.001), as was the mortality rate (8.5% vs. 2.3%, odds ratio=3.9, p<!0.001). Conclusion. Malnutrition is a common problem among hospitalised patients. The use of a validated malnutrition screening tool to lower the malnutrition risk is necessary. A multicentre cross-sectional study on the effect of malnutrition on clinical outcomes is needed for developing service-quality enhancement measures.© 2019 The Hong Kong Geriatrics Society and Hong Kong Association of Gerontology.