Recent and current low food intake – prevalence and associated factors in hospital patients from different medical specialities

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Poor food intake is a major etiological factor of malnutrition. This study describes the prevalence of recent and current low food intake (LIRC)—defined as decreased eating both on nutritionDay and in the week before hospitalisation—and identifies factors associated with LIRC in adult hospital patients from different medical specialities. SUBJECT/METHODS: 1865 patients from German hospital units participating in the nutritionDay survey 2016–2020 were included. LIRC was defined using patient-reported intake of lunch on nutritionDay and intake in the week before admission. Multivariate binary logistic regression identified factors associated with LIRC overall and by speciality. RESULTS: LIRC was present in 21.1% of all patients, highest in Gastroenterology (26.6%) and lowest in Neurology (11.2%). In the total sample, weight loss within three months before nutritionDay (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.93–3.56), (very) poor self-rated health (2.17, 1.62–2.91), female sex (1.98, 1.50–2.61), unknown weight loss (1.90, 1.03–3.51), digestive disease (1.90, 1.40–2.56), inability to walk without assistance (1.55, 1.14–2.12) were associated with increased risk, and cardiac insufficiency with decreased risk (0.55, 0.37–0.83). Subgroup analyses showed higher effect sizes in Gastroenterology and Oncology; no significant associations were found in Neurology and Geriatrics. CONCLUSION: LIRC is common in German hospital patients and is associated with female sex, poor health, and decreased functional status. Interdisciplinary differences suggest a discipline-specific approach to malnutrition.

Sarah Elisabeth Jasmin Böhne, Michael Hiesmayr, Isabella Sulz, Silvia Tarantino, Rainer Wirth, Dorothee Volkert