Desnutrição, tempo de internação e mortalidade em um hospital geral do Sul do Brasil

Objective: To detect the malnutrition prevalence using three methods to assess the nutritional status and to verify possible associations with the length of hospital stay and mortality. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study including 445 men and women, aged 18 years old or more, admitted in a general tertiary hospital. Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), Body Mass Index (BMI) and Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) were evaluated. Demographic data and information about length of hospital stay and mortality were obtained from questionnaire and medical records. Student T test, Chi-square test and Modified Poisson Regression were used in the statistical analysis. Results: Prevalence of malnutrition was respectively: BMI: 15.5%, MAUC: 41.1% and SGA 39.8%. In the multivariate analysis, malnutrition detected by SGA at hospital admission was significantly associated with length of stay higher or equal than 10 days (PR 1.29 IC95% 1.08 – 1.53 P=0,005) and death during hospitalization (PR 4.36 IC95% 1.93 – 9.85 P=0,001). Conclusions: Prevalence of malnutrition detected by three methods to assess the nutritional status is high in our hospital. However, only the SGA at hospital admission was significantly associated with length of stay higher or equal than 10 days and death.