Abstract

AMARO, José de Santo; CORREIA, Ana Catarina  and  PEREIRA, Cláudia. Evaluation of Risk of Malnutrition in the “Medicine IV” Service of Hospital Distrital de Santarém. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2016, n.4, pp.06-09. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2015.0402.

Malnutrition is a common health issue during hospitalization. This article present the results of a descriptive and observational study from patients hospitalized in the “Medicina IV” service at of Hospital Distrital de Santarém, completed with the purpose of identifying the degree of malnutrition risk and measure the patients nutritional evolution as well the sources of the same parameter, in order to measure if there is any significant difference in prevalence. 150 individuals were measured with an average of 80 years of both sexes, an anthropometry evaluation was realized by indirect (estimated weight and height) and direct methods (height knee, calf and arm circumferences) to calculate body mass index, one of the parameters needed to determine the risk of malnutrition. Upon hospital admission, it was identified by the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), 29.3 % (N = 44) of patients with high risk of malnutrition and 70.7 % (N = 106) with high risk of malnutrition. In conclusion, the rate of malnutrition in hospitalized patients is high, which can compromise the clinical outcomes. In this context, it is essential the frequent nutritional assessment of hospitalized patients, allowing for an early identification and nutritional intervention.

Keywords : Nutritional assessment; Malnutrition; Nutritional status; MUST.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )