PD525 - HOW IS MALNUTRITION MANAGED IN AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALS? A SURVEY BY THE AUSPEN MALNUTRITION TASKFORCE

PD525

HOW IS MALNUTRITION MANAGED IN AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALS? A SURVEY BY THE AUSPEN MALNUTRITION TASKFORCE

A. M. Young^1,2,*, B. Agius³, H. Griffin³, K. Noble⁴, K. Bell⁵, K. Coster⁶, L. Feek⁷, L. Botero¹, P. Collins⁸, G. Whitelock⁹, J. Bauer¹⁰, M. Banks², I. Nyulasi¹¹

¹The University of Queensland, ²Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, ³The Royal Melbourne Hospital, ⁴The Alfred, Melbourne, ⁵Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane, ⁶Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, ⁷Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, ⁸Gold Coast University Hospital, Gold Coast, ⁹The Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, ¹⁰Monash University, ¹¹Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Rationale: Recent formation of the Australasian Society of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition (AuSPEN) Malnutrition Taskforce provides an opportunity to progress an Australasian agenda on disease related malnutrition. This study aimed to describe current malnutrition management practices in Australian hospitals to inform priority areas for action.

Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to nutrition and dietetic managers of Australian hospitals capturing responses on inpatient malnutrition and nutrition care, governance and quality improvement processes. Quantitative data were presented as counts and percentages, and qualitative comments were analysed using inductive content analysis.

Results: A total of 52 respondents representing 89 hospitals completed the survey (90% were public hospitals; 44% located in rural, regional or remote location) Overall, 70% reported having a malnutrition policy/guideline and 84% reported having a nutrition-focused committee. Almost all hospitals reported use of validated adult screening (96%) and assessment tools (98%), but fewer than half of paediatric services used validated screening (39%) and assessment tools/criteria (45%). Gaps were identified in the following areas: multidisciplinary nutrition care (most interventions were dietitian-led), nutrition monitoring, and knowledge about the application of malnutrition diagnostic criteria, including diagnosis and management of hospital-acquired malnutrition.

Conclusion: This national survey of malnutrition management across Australian hospitals found most adult sites to have policies in place and high reported use of validated screening and assessment tools but this was markedly lower in paediatric services. This research identified opportunities to coordinate a national approach to strengthen governance and enable the sharing of best practice to drive service improvement and effective nutrition care optimisation.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared