PD035 - PREVALENCE AND OUTCOME ASSOCIATIONS OF MALNUTRITION RISK IN HOSPITALISED PATIENTS

PD035

PREVALENCE AND OUTCOME ASSOCIATIONS OF MALNUTRITION RISK IN HOSPITALISED PATIENTS

M. Gerwek^1,2, S. Walther¹, U. Holdgrün^1,2, A. Nierling³, L. Selig³, M. Stumvoll^3,4, H. Schlögl^3,4,*, T. Kirsten^1,2

¹Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Leipzig University, ²Dept. Medical Data Science, Medical Informatics Center, ³Department of Endocrinology, Nephrology and Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, ⁴LeiCeM - Leipzig Center of Metabolism, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

Rationale: Malnutrition is prevalent in a significant number of hospitalised patients and associated with adverse clinical outcomes and increased healthcare costs. This project examines the prevalence and clinical relevance of malnutrition at the University of Leipzig Medical Center (ULMC), using routine clinical data, and compares outcomes of patients with and without malnutrition.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of routine data from 212,470 adult inpatient cases at the ULMC was performed for the time period from 2013 to 2023. In 2017, the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS) was introduced, consisting of an initial and a main screening. The main cohort comprises patients from 2017 to 2023. Hospitalised patients from 2013 to 2016 were used as a comparison cohort. The adverse clinical outcomes were analysed using both logistic and linear regression methods.

Results: The NRS main screening identified 5,024 cases at high risk of malnutrition (NRS score ≥3). These patients showed worse clinical outcomes compared to patients with no elevated malnutrition risk, including a higher risk of 30-day readmission (odds ratio [OR] 2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.01–2.29, p<0.001), admission to the intensive care unit during the hospital stay (OR 2.22, CI 2.08–2.37, p<0.001), and in-hospital all-cause death (OR 3.78, 95% CI 3.38–4.21, p<0.001), as well as a longer hospital stay (ratio of means 2.68, 95% CI 2.58–2.77, p<0.001). Additionally, these patients had higher age (64.4 vs. 61.5 years) and Charlson comorbidity index (3.4 vs. 1.7). The discharge units with the highest numbers of malnourished patients were the palliative (47.1%) and oncology (36.0%) units.

Conclusion: The study indicates that a higher risk of malnutrition in hospitalised patients is associated with worse clinical outcomes. Routine screening procedures, such as the NRS, have been demonstrated to be a valuable tool in identifying patients at risk in an early stage.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared