Prevalence and costs of malnutrition in hospitalized patients: the PREDyCES®Study
2012
Background and aims: The main objective of the
PREDyCES® study was twofold. First, to analyse the
prevalence of hospital malnutrition in Spain, both at
admission and at discharge, and second, to estimate the
hospital costs associated with disease-related malnutrition.
Methods: The study was a nationwide, cross-sectional,
observational, multicentre study in routine clinical practice,
which assessed the prevalence of hospital malnutrition
both at patient admission and discharge using NRS-
2002®. A study extension analysed the incidence of
complications associated with malnutrition, excess
hospital stay and healthcare costs associated with hospital
malnutrition.
Results: Malnutrition was observed in 23.7% of
patients according to NRS-2002®. Multivariate analysis
revealed that age, gender, presence of malignant disease,
diabetes mellitus, dysphagia and polymedication were the
main factors associated with the presence of malnutrition.
Malnutrition was associated with an increase in
length of hospital stay, especially in patients admitted
without malnutrition but who presented malnutrition at
discharge (15.2 vs. 8.0 days, p < 0.001), with an associated
additional cost of €5,829 per patient.
Conclusion: In Spanish hospitals, almost one in four
patients is malnourished. This condition is associated
with increased length of hospital stay and associated
costs, especially in patients developing malnutrition
during hospitalization. Systematic screening for malnutrition
should be generalised in order to implement nutritional
interventions with well-known effectiveness.
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