LB021 - RECENT AND CURRENT LOW FOOD INTAKE AND IN-HOSPITAL MORTALITY – RESULTS FROM THE NUTRITIONDAY IN EUROPE 2016-2023

LB021

RECENT AND CURRENT LOW FOOD INTAKE AND IN-HOSPITAL MORTALITY – RESULTS FROM THE NUTRITIONDAY IN EUROPE 2016-2023

S. S. Weiß^1,*, S. E. J. Böhne¹, M. Hiesmayr², S. Tarantino², A. Schartmann², D. Volkert¹

¹Institute for Biomedicine of Ageing, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany, ²Institute for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Rationale: Insufficient food intake is a risk factor for malnutrition and has been associated with increased mortality. This analysis examines the impact of persistent low food intake compared to single occurrence of decreased food intake on mortality.

Methods: 22,329 European inpatients participating in nutritionDay 2016–2023 with complete data on food intake were analysed for demographics, health status, nutritional status and 30-day mortality. Food intake was described as recently low (≤75% of normal in the week before hospitalisation; LI_R), currently low (≤50% of lunch on nutritionDay; LI_C), or low at both times (LI_RC). Mortality risk was examined in three multivariate binary logistic regression models, adjusted for 30 patient characteristics: One with LI_R and LI_C as separate variables, one with the combined LI_RC variable, and one interaction model considering the relationship between recent and current intake.

Results: LI_R was observed in 34.6%, LI_C in 53.9% and LI_RC in 23.9% of all participants (51.3% female; 69 ± 17 years; BMI 26.3 ± 5.96 kg/m²; 52.8% emergency admissions). LI_R increased mortality risk by 1.25 (95% CI 1.06–1.49) compared to normal intake in the week before hospitalisation, LI_C increased mortality risk by 1.70 (95% CI 1.40–2.06) compared to normal intake on nutritionDay. Mortality risk was 2.05 times higher in patients with LI_RC than in patients with normal intake at both times (95% CI 1.62–2.59). No interactions were observed between intake on nutritionDay and during the week prior to hospitalisation.

Conclusion: Recent and current low food intake (LI_RC) is associated with higher mortality than low intake at only one time point, suggesting that both recent and current low food intake should be considered to identify patients at risk.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared