LB036 - MALNUTRITION RISK AND NUTRITIONAL CARE PRACTICES IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS IN ECUADOR: A NATIONAL MULTICENTER NUTRITIONDAY 2025 ANALYSIS

LB036

MALNUTRITION RISK AND NUTRITIONAL CARE PRACTICES IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS IN ECUADOR: A NATIONAL MULTICENTER NUTRITIONDAY 2025 ANALYSIS

E. Frias-Toral¹ on behalf of nDay Ecuador working group, R. Zambrano-Villacres², C. Arteaga-Pazmiño³, I. Alvarado^1,*, G. Cucalon⁴, G. Pere⁵, C. Calle⁶, M. Cabadiana⁷, X. Yacelga⁸, S. Ordoñez⁹, J. Vargas¹⁰, D. Jima-Gavilanes¹¹, P. Baquerizo¹², M. Ruiz Izurieta¹³, A. L. Loaiza¹⁴, S. Tarantino¹⁵, M. Hiesmayr ¹⁵, A. C. Tinoco¹⁶

¹Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Espíritu Santo, ²Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y Desarrollo Humano, Universidad ECOTEC, Samborondón, ³Carrera de Nutrición y Dietética , Universidad de Guayaquil, ⁴Lifescience Faculty, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ⁵Servicio de Nutrición, Hospital Roberto Gilbert, ⁶Servicio de Emergencia, SOLCA Guayaquil, ⁷Área Técnica de Nutrición, Hospital de especialidades Dr Teodoro Maldonado Carbo , Guayaquil, ⁸Coordinación Institucional de Nutrición, Hospital General del Sur de Quito, Quito, ⁹Servicio de Nutrición y Dietética , Hospital de Infectologia , ¹⁰Servicio de Nutrición, Omnihospital, ¹¹Clinica Alcivar, Guayaquil, ¹²Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, UEES Clinic, Samborondón, ¹³Servicio de Nutrición, Hospital General del Norte se Guayaquil los Ceibos- Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social , ¹⁴Servicio de Nutrición, Hospital Alfredo Paulson , Guayaquil, Ecuador, ¹⁵Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, ¹⁶Departamento de Nutrición, Hospital General Docente Vicente Corral Moscoso, Cuenca, Ecuador

Rationale: Multicenter benchmarking data on hospital malnutrition in Latin America remain limited. This study described malnutrition risk, nutritional care practices, and 30-day outcomes among hospitalized patients participating in nutritionDay (nDay) 2025 in Ecuador.

Methods: We performed a national multicenter cross-sectional analysis of 18 Ecuadorian hospital units participating in nDay 2025. Standardized unit reports were aggregated using patient, nutrition-care, and 30-day outcome variables. Results are presented as descriptive statistics.

Results: Overall, 323 hospitalized patients were included from internal medicine/general, surgery/general, multidisciplinary, and other clinical units. At assessment, 42 patients (13.0%) had been identified as malnourished and 61 (18.9%) as at risk of malnutrition; 187 (57.9%) had no documented nutritional impairment and status was unknown in 33 (10.2%). Nutritional support included oral nutritional supplements in 34 patients (10.5%), enteral nutrition in 17 (5.3%), and parenteral nutrition in 8 (2.5%). Caloric and protein requirements were determined in 69 (21.4%) and 67 (20.7%) patients, respectively. Food intake and malnutrition status were documented in 91 patients (28.2%), and a nutrition expert was consulted in 100 (31.0%). Among 216 patients with 30-day outcome data, 199 (92.1%) were discharged home and 8 (3.7%) died.

Conclusion: In this national nDay analysis from Ecuador, nearly one-third of hospitalized patients were malnourished or at risk. However, nutritional assessment and documentation were inconsistent. These findings support the need to strengthen early screening, standardized documentation, and multidisciplinary nutrition care pathways in Ecuadorian hospitals.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared