PD087 - IMPACT OF NUTRITIONAL SCREENING AND RE-SCREENING PRACTICES ON COMPLICATION RATES IN HOME NUTRITIONAL THERAPY: AN EXPLORATORY MULTICENTER STUDY

PD087

IMPACT OF NUTRITIONAL SCREENING AND RE-SCREENING PRACTICES ON COMPLICATION RATES IN HOME NUTRITIONAL THERAPY: AN EXPLORATORY MULTICENTER STUDY

M. G. Castro1,*, C. E. De Nadai2, C. P. da Silva3, G. Dereste4, L. T. Bonfim5, R. A. Birro6, S. B. Vasconcellos7, G. B. Fontes8, K. B. I. de Oliveira 6, N. C. Brant 9, A. P. R. Teixeira9

1Medical and Scientific Affairs, 2Nutrition, Fresenius Kabi, São Paulo, 3Nutrition, Grupo Saude, João Pessoa, 4Nutrition, Home doctor, 5Nutrition, Plural Care, 6Nutrition, Pronep Life Care, 7Nutrition, Special Saúde, São Paulo, 8Nutrition, Solar cuidados em saúde, Rio de Janeiro, 9Nutrition, Captamed, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

 

Rationale: Structured care processes, including early nutritional screening and regular reassessment, are key components of quality nutritional care. However, their impact in home nutritional therapy (HNT) settings is not well established. This study aimed to explore the association between screening practices and complication rates in Brazilian home care services.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among home care providers with nationwide coverage. Data collected included patient profile, nutritional practices, and complication frequency. Complications were rated on a 1–5 scale (1:very rare; 5:very frequent), and a mean complication score was calculated. Care process variables included time to nutritional screening and frequency of re-screening. A combined process score was created integrating these variables. Associations were explored using Spearman correlation.

Results: Participating companies assisted a mean of 24,320 patients per month, of whom approximately 24% were receiving nutritional therapy. 

Nutritional screening was performed by all services. Among them, 66.7% performing screening within 24–72 hours after admission, while 33.3% reported screening after more than 72 hours. Periodic re-screening was performed by 66.7% of services.

A moderate inverse correlation was identified between the combined process score (early screening plus frequent re-screening) and overall complication score (ρ = –0.58), suggesting that more structured care processes are associated with lower complication frequency.

Conclusion: Earlier nutritional screening and structured re-assessment were associated with lower complication rates in HNT. These findings reinforce the importance of timely and systematic nutritional follow-up and support the development of process-based quality indicators in home nutritional therapy.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared