Disease-related malnutrition (undernutrition and obesity) in patients hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology

Streszczenie

Background: The nutritional status of patients with cardiovascular diseases significantly affects prognosis and disease course. Our study, which assessed the nutritional status of patients admitted to the Cardiology Department, revealed a substantial proportion of patients at risk of malnutrition, which increased with age. Malnutrition, including undernutrition and obesity, affects 40–60% of adult patients hospitalized in Europe and is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, length of hospital stay, and costs. Although malnutrition is a disease listed in the International Classification of Diseases and should be recognized and treated as such, it is rarely identified and even less often treated, which can have tragic consequences. In this analysis, we examined the nutritional status of adults hospitalized for cardiovascular diseases.

Methods: Nutritional status was assessed using the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002), Body Mass Index (BMI), and Waist-to-Hip circumference ratio (WHR). Additionally, serum concentrations of albumin, cholesterol, hemoglobin, and C-reactive protein were measured. This retrospective study included 95 consecutive patients.

Results: Using NRS 2002 and SGA, the estimated risk of undernutrition was reported in 60% and 81% of patients, respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition (undernutrition, overweight, and obesity) increased with age, regardless of the scale used.

Conclusions: Hospitalized patients with cardiovascular diseases should be screened for the risk of malnutrition using NRS 2002 or SGA. Although our data is based on a small number of patients, it should encourage clinicians to pay more attention to nutritional status to prevent malnutrition in at-risk patients.