PD070 - THE HIDDEN EPIDEMIC OF HOSPITAL MALNUTRITION – PREVALENCE AMONG HOSPITALIZED ADULTS IN A POLISH PATIENT POPULATION

PD070

THE HIDDEN EPIDEMIC OF HOSPITAL MALNUTRITION – PREVALENCE AMONG HOSPITALIZED ADULTS IN A POLISH PATIENT POPULATION

K. Goral^1,*, P. Mielniczuk - Kozak¹, M. Partyka¹, K. Soczyńska¹, P. Matras¹, O. Stachorzecka¹

¹Clinical Nutrition, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland

Rationale: Malnutrition is a common but frequently under-recognized clinical problem among hospitalized patients. Data on its prevalence in Polish hospitals remain limited due to inconsistent implementation of nutritional screening and restricted availability of large clinical datasets.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of data was conducted on adult patients hospitalized in a large multi-specialty hospital in Poland between October 1, 2023 and April 30, 2025.During the study period, 122,005  hospital admissions were recorded, of which 51,764  met the inclusion criteria. Nutritional screening was performed in 95.7% (n = 49,560). Nutritional risk at hospital admission was assessed using the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002.

Results: Based on the frequency analysis, symptoms of malnutrition were found in 30.3% (n = 15,027) of patients admitted to the hospital. Based on the Chi-square test analysis, it was observed that malnutrition occurred significantly more often in men (32.7%) than in women (28.1%). The prevalence of malnutrition was also higher among patients admitted on an emergency basis (42% vs. 24.6% for planned admissions). A greater prevalence of malnutrition was also observed among patients diagnosed with cancer (63.4% vs. 24.4%). Furthermore, based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) analysis, a positive association was observed between the occurrence of malnutrition and age (r = 0.43; p < 0.001) as well as longer hospital stay (r = 0.24; p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Malnutrition is a common problem already present at the time of hospital admission. The results of the study highlight the need for systematic screening for nutritional status assessment. Early identification of malnutrition enables the rapid implementation of appropriate nutritional intervention.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared