LB019 - PREVALENCE OF MALNUTRITION RISK FACTORS AND REFERRAL TO DIETETIC COUNSELING IN EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN PRIMARY CARE PATIENTS: A NUTRITIONDAY 2023–2024 STUDY

LB019

PREVALENCE OF MALNUTRITION RISK FACTORS AND REFERRAL TO DIETETIC COUNSELING IN EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN PRIMARY CARE PATIENTS: A NUTRITIONDAY 2023–2024 STUDY

S. Tarantino^1,2, E. Softic^1,*, F. Trumshi¹, C. Schuh³, M. Hiesmayr¹ on behalf of nutritionDay worldwide working group

¹Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of Vienna, ²Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Arthritis and Rehabilitation , ³ITSC, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Rationale: Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) in primary care (PC) contributes to functional decline and chronic morbidity but remains under-recognized. Patients at nutritional risk are often not identified nor referred for dietetic counselling (DC). To assess the prevalence of malnutrition risk factors in PC and identify factors associated with referral to DC

Methods: nutritionDay is a voluntary international one-day cross-sectional survey conducted annually in PC. This analysis included 2,449 patients surveyed in 2023–2024 from 41 PC centres in Europe (EU; n=1,511, 7 countries) and Latin America (LA; n=910, 4 countries). Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed (p<0.05)

Results: Patients were predominantly female (EU 60.0%; LA 73.3%). LA participants were younger than those in the EU (39.9±16.3 vs. 56.6±17.5 years). Overweight and obesity were highly prevalent (EU: 36.9% and 29.5%; LA: 36.0% and 28.6%). Weight loss (WL) in the previous three months was reported by 26.2% of EU and 27.8% of LA patients. Both unintentional and intentional WL were significantly associated with referral to DC. In the EU, patients with unintentional and intentional WL were 2.3 and 2.7 times more likely to be referred; while estimates in LA were 3.1 and 2.3. Excess body weight was also a strong predictor of referral. In the EU, referral likelihood increased from 1.7-fold in overweight patients to 5.4-fold in class III obesity. In LA, only class I obesity was significantly associated with DC. Younger LA patients were less likely to be referred despite reporting unintentional WL

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Conclusion: Referral to DC in PC is driven mainly by overweight and obesity. Systematic nutritional screening could improve identification of nutritional risk beyond obesity and support timely referral.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared