Nutrition in Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases
Editors: Christos Dervenis, Athens; Herbert Lochs, Berlin

Original Paper

Prevalence of Malnutrition in Hospitalized Medical Patients: Impact of Underlying Disease
Matthias Pirlich^a, Tatjana Schütz^a, Martin Kemps^a, Niklas Luhman^a, Gerd-Rüdiger Burmester^b, Gert Baumann^c, Mathias Plauth^d, Heinrich Josef Lübke^e, Herbert Lochs<sup>a

a</sup>Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie und Endokrinologie,
^bRheumatologie und klinische Immunologie,
^cKardiologie, Pulmonologie und Angiologie, Universitätsklinikum Charité, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin;
^dKlinik für Innere Medizin, Städtisches Klinikum Dessau und
^eMedizinische Klinik I, Krankenhaus Zehlendorf, Berlin, Deutschland

Address of Corresponding Author

Dig Dis 2003;21:245-251 (DOI: 10.1159/000073342)

  Key Words

• Malnutrition, prevalence
• Malnourished hospitalized patients
• Subjective global assessment
• Gastrointestinal diseases
• Malnutrition, diagnoses

  Abstract

Background/Aims: Malnutrition is common among hospitalized patients. We investigated whether certain diseases predispose more frequently for malnutrition than others. Methods: Nutritional state was assessed by clinical scores, anthropometry and bioimpedance analysis in 502 consecutively admitted patients in the departments of internal medicine in two hospitals in Berlin (n = 300, university hospital; n = 202, district hospital). The prevalence of malnutrition was compared in patient groups with a different diagnosis. Results: Malnutrition was present in 24.2% of all patients. A clear association between diagnoses and malnutrition was found: the prevalence of malnutrition was significantly higher in malignant than in non-malignant diseases (50.9 vs. 21.0%, p < 0.0001). High prevalence rates >30% were observed in subgroups of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, chronic heart failure and benign lung diseases. Patients with gastrointestinal diseases, however, were not more frequently malnourished than other medical patients (28.8 vs. 22.0%). Malnourished patients were significantly older (70.0 ± 13.6 vs. 58.3 ± 15.6 years, p < 0.0001) and had a 40% longer hospital stay (13.1 ± 8.1 vs. 9.3 ± 6.8 days, p < 0.0001) than well-nourished patients. Conclusions: Patients with malignancies, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic heart failure and benign lung diseases need special attention due to the high prevalence of malnutrition.

Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Dr. med. Matthias Pirlich
Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik
Universitätsklinikum Charité, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
DE-10098 Berlin (Germany)
Tel. +49 30 450 514006, Fax +49 30 450 514923, E-Mail matthias.pirlich@charite.de

  Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 7
Number of Figures : 2, Number of Tables : 6, Number of References : 24