Nutritional Aspects in Patients with Covid-19 Admitted for Rehabilitation

Abstract

Aim As consequence of Covid-19 pandemic a large number of people were admitted to rehabilitation programs. Specific nutritional counseling and dietary advices for Covid-19 patients are not yet available with the exception of generally dietary recommendations. The scope of this paper is to characterize the possible role of nutritional aspects in patients with Covid-19 admitted for rehabilitation. Design Observational study. Setting Subjects hospitalized for severe bilateral pneumonia and admitted to rehabilitation setting. Population From March-2020 to May-2020, thirty-eight Covid-19-positive subjects hospitalized for severe bilateral pneumonia and admitted to rehabilitation. Methods All subjects were evaluated the first day of admission (T0). Clinical, anthropometric, biochemical (laboratory), and dietary data were recorded. Dietary intake was assessed through a detailed interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire. In addition, was used the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). Results Patients' age ranged from 52 to 89 years (73.95 ± 8.27years). Eleven subjects were female and 27 males. All the patients were recognized to be at high risk of malnutrition at MUST: 9 subjects reported 2 points, 19 subjects 3 points, 8 subjects 4 points, and 2 subjects 5 points. The Pearson's correlation showed a direct correlation between hemoglobin and protein total values r = 0.417 (p = 0.009) and between the 4-M Walk Test (WT4m) and the Barthel index r = 0.772 (p = 0.005); inverse correlation were found between Barthel index and age values r = -458 (p = 0.004) and between age and hemoglobin r = -420 (p = 0.009). Finally, in our samples the results showed an inverse correlation between C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and albumin with r = -0.592 (p < 001). Conclusion Our findings confirm the fundamental role of nutritional aspects in patients Covid-19 positive admitted for rehabilitation. We observed that all subjects have shown at the admission at rehabilitative setting a Medium/High Risk of malnutrition and a statistical correlation between nutritional Haematochemical tests, clinical features and inflammatory status. Further studies that include a larger sample size are needed to confirm our results.