Prognostic Indices of Poor Nutritional Status and Their Impact on Prolonged Hospital Stay in a Greek University Hospital
Table 1
Participants’ characteristics according to MUST categories.
Variable
Well nourished
At risk of malnutrition
Malnourished
value
(%)
107 (36.2)
125 (42.3)
63 (21.4)
Age (years)
59.6 (17.7)
63.9 (16.2)
69.8 (16.3)***
0.001
Females
29 (27.1)
48 (38.4)
38 (60.3)
0.000
BMI
28.1 (4.8)
26.2 (4.7)*
25.4 (5.7)**
0.001
Presurvey LOS (days)
6.3 (7.1)
7.3 (8.7)
9.8 (8.2)*
0.017
Hospital LOS (days)
3.7 (2.3)
7.4 (4.6)***
14.1 (9.1)***
0.000
Comorbidities
Hypertension
20 (18.7)
16 (12.8)
10 (15.8)
0.329
Diabetes mellitus
18 (16.9)
26 (20.8)
13 (20.6)
Stroke
17 (15.8)
14 (11.2)
7 (11.2)
COPD
7 (6.6)
6 (4.8)
5 (7.9)
Cardiovascular disease
6 (5.6)
2 (1.6)
0
No comorbidity
39 (36.4)
61 (48.8)
28 (44.5)
Autonomy
Out of home
100 (93.3)
88 (70.9)
19 (30.1)
0.000
Home only
5 (4.6)
20 (16.2)
13 (20.7)
Bedridden
2 (2.1)
17 (12.9)
31 (49.2)
Health status self-assessment
Fine
6 (5.7)
4 (3.4)
1 (1.6)
0.000
Very good
20 (19.1)
20 (16.2)
3 (4.7)
Good
38 (35.2)
31 (24.8)
11 (17.5)
Satisfactory
32 (29.5)
33 (26.5)
17 (26.9)
Poor
11 (10.5)
37 (29.1)
31 (49.3)
Appetite status
Abnormal
14 (13.1)
40 (31.6)
48 (75.9)
0.000
Normal
93 (87.3)
85 (68.2)
15 (24.1)
Dietary type
Regular diet
76 (71.1)
69 (55.2)
28 (44.4)
0.003
Specific diet
27 (25.2)
49 (39.2)
26 (41.2)
Enteral nutrition
2 (1.9)
2 (1.7)
6 (9.5)
TPN
2 (1.9)
5 (3.9)
3 (4.9)
Quantity of food last
Normal
78 (74.7)
69 (58.3)
17 (31.4)
0.000
Less than normal
17 (16.5)
17 (14.4)
8 (15.4)
Half normal
7 (6.5)
18 (15.2)
8 (14.8)
Quarter normal
2 (2.3)
14 (12.1)
21 (38.4)
Recent weight loss
Yes
29 (25.2)
57 (45.5)
46 (73.3)
0.000
No
64 (60.5)
50 (39.8)
6 (10)
Gain weight
12 (11.8)
15 (12.3)
2 (3.3)
Do not know
2 (2.5)
3 (2.4)
9 (14.7)
Arm perimeter <22 cm
2 (1.9)
9 (7.2)
36 (57.1)
0.000
Calf perimeter <31 cm
7 (6.5)
28 (22.4)
45 (71.4)
0.000
Note. Data are expressed as mean (SD) or number of patients (%). MUST: Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool; BMI: Body Mass Index; MNA: Mini Nutritional Assessment; LOS: length of stay; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TPN: total parenteral nutrition; ; ; versus well-nourished group.