Prevalence and Disease Burden of Disease-Related Malnutrition in Hospitalized Patients in Spain

Speaker(s)

Lifschitz E1, Álvarez-Hernández J2, Breton I3, Botella-Romero F3, León Sanz M2
1Hiris Care, Madrid, M, Spain, 2Sociedad Española de Nutrición Clínica y Metabolismo (SENPE), Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 3Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición (SEEN), Madrid, Madrid, Spain

OBJECTIVES: Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) is a complex syndrome that results from inadequate intake of nutrients that do not meet the patient's physiological requirements and from the systemic inflammatory response associated with a pathological state. DRM generates excess morbidity and mortality and is associated with a greater use of health resources. This research aims to measure the population affected by DRM in Spanish hospitals and estimate its impact on health and costs.

METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted in publications that have evaluated the prevalence of DRM in hospitalized patients in Spain, and its clinical and economic impact. Based on these data, the number of people affected by DRM in the Spanish hospital setting and the additional cost for public and private health care were estimated.

RESULTS: The prevalence of DRM in hospitalized patients is, according to GLIM criteria, 29.7%, which allows us to estimate about 780,000 adults hospitalized with DRM per year in Spain. These patients have higher in-hospital mortality and a higher rate of early readmissions. A prolongation of hospital stays is also recognized, so that each episode of hospitalization of patients with DRM is associated with an additional cost of € 1,800 compared to normal-nourished people. The extrapolation of the additional cost per episode to the number of people with DRM in the hospital setting allows us to estimate an additional cost of more than 1,400 million euros.

CONCLUSIONS: DRM is a serious public health problem, with serious harm to hospitalized patients. It is necessary to implement strategies to improve the comprehensive approach to this disease to reduce the clinical impact on patients and the inefficient use of economic resources.

Code

EPH139

Topic

Epidemiology & Public Health

Topic Subcategory

Public Health

Disease

Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders (including obesity), Nutrition