Patients hospitalized in Asia,4 in Europe and the United Kingdom,1 and 43 and in North44 and South America45 were at higher risk of dying if malnourished. Costs were also higher when extra care and longer stays were needed to treat health complications, as supported by studies from Singapore,
Brazil, and The Netherlands (Table 1). The traditional recommendations of nutrition screening, assessment, and intervention are sometimes overlooked or inadequate. In a European-wide survey of hospital nutrition care (1217 units, 325 selleck screening library hospitals, 25 countries, >21,000 patients), only half of the units reported routine use of nutrition screening.51 Even when energy intake was assessed and an energy goal was specified, about half of the patients consumed less than their energy goal; or they self-reported inadequate food intake.8 and 51 According to the British Nutrition Foundation, more than 60% of hospital patients experienced a decline in nutritional status during their stay in the hospital.12 Nutrition guidelines worldwide advise nutritional intervention for patients who cannot meet nutrient needs with a diet of regular food. Nutrition interventions, including oral nutrition supplements RGFP966 molecular weight (ONS) and enteral and parenteral nutrition, had significant clinical and economic
benefits across patient groups and in different settings, as shown by results of randomized, Tolmetin controlled trials (RCTs), prospective studies, and meta-analyses. Health benefits of nutrition intervention include improved nutrition status, muscle mass, strength, or performance; fewer health complications; improved quality of life; and reduced risk of mortality (Table 2).23, 24, 25, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57 Economic benefits include reduced length of stay, fewer hospital readmissions,
and lowered cost of care (Table 3).24, 26, 55, 58, 59 and 60 To provide best-practice nutrition care, it is essential that caregivers appreciate the current definition of malnutrition. Malnutrition has been newly defined as 3 clinical syndromes, which are characterized by underlying illness or injury and varying degrees of inflammation.61 The three syndromes are (1) starvation-related malnutrition, a form of malnutrition without inflammation; (2) chronic disease-related malnutrition, which is nutritional inadequacy associated with chronic conditions that impose sustained inflammation of a mild-to-moderate degree; and (3) acute disease- or injury-related malnutrition, which is undernutrition related to conditions that elicit marked inflammatory responses. Many chronic conditions (such as kidney disease, cancer, heart failure, or rheumatoid arthritis) have inflammation as a disease component, thus increasing the risk of malnutrition, 62 and 63 even among patients who are overweight or obese.