LB024 - DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN NURSING STAFF VISUAL ESTIMATES AND ACTUAL FOOD INTAKE AMONG HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS IN INTERNAL MEDICINE DEPARTMENTS

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LB024

DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN NURSING STAFF VISUAL ESTIMATES AND ACTUAL FOOD INTAKE AMONG HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS IN INTERNAL MEDICINE DEPARTMENTS

B. Amrani1,*, T. Koren Hakim1, S. Frishman1, L. albanai1

1Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel

 

Rationale: Accurate assessment of food intake is essential for effective nutritional care during hospitalization. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of visual estimations made by nursing staff compared to actual food consumption, measured by precise post-meal weighing and caloric assessment.

Methods: Over the course of one week, lunch trays were monitored in two internal medicine wards at Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Israel. A total of 300 meals were analyzed. Each food component was weighed before and after the meal using a digital scale. The percentage consumed was calculated. Caloric intake was determined by multiplying the percentage of each food item consumed based on pre- and post-meal weighing. Concurrently, nursing staff recorded their visual estimations using predefined categories (≤25%, 50%, ≥75%).  

Results: Average intake was partial across all food groups: 53.3% for carbohydrates, 57.2% for proteins, and 58.7% for vegetables. The most consumed protein dish was schnitzel, and the most consumed carbohydrate dish was mashed potatoes. In contrast, pureed meals were the least consumed. Weight differences in these meals were not statistically significant (p = 0.2222), yet significant discrepancies were found in caloric and protein intake (p < 0.0001). Out of all records, only 25.7% of nursing reports matched the actual measured intake, 33% showed discrepancies, and 41.3% had no documentation at all. Scatter plots and box plots revealed a general positive trend between reported and actual intake, but with wide variability, including underestimation and overestimation by up to 50%. The interquartile range of the differences was broad, with extreme outliers.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that visual estimations are not consistently reliable and may lead to inaccurate assessments of patients' nutritional status. The results emphasize the need for implementing objective, standardized methods to monitor food intake, particularly for patients receiving modified-texture diets or those at nutritional risk. Improved monitoring could support timely and accurate nutritional interventions in clinical settings.

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Disclosure of Interest: None declared