The usefulness of a hospital nutrition support team, as a separate unit, in diagnosing and treating malnutrition

Abstract

Introduction: Malnutrition is still a serious clinical problem, which has negative consequences. It not only prolongs hospitalisation, but also delays recovery. The diagnosis of malnutrition is as important as any other medical diagnosis. Aim of the study: To assess the usefulness of a hospital nutrition support team, as a separate unit, to diagnose and treat malnutrition. Material and methods: Data from 5 years were retrospectively collected. We analysed the number of patients each year and the number of days of artificial nutrition (enteral and parenteral) covered by the National Health Fund. During the first 2.5 years, the nutrition support team functioned as a part of surgical department, and for the next 2.5 years it was a separate unit. Results: The activity of the hospital nutrition support team, as a separate unit, has significantly increased the number of nutritional procedures, enteral in particular. In the first half of the year 2014, the number of parenteral nutrition days was 64, and the number of enteral nutrition days was 215. However, in the next 6 months, when the team functioned as a separate unit, the number of days was 185 and 1,511, respectively, despite a similar number of hospitalised patients. The activity of a separate nutrition support unit resulted in a significant, more than 7-fold increase in the number of days of the enteral nutrition (1,032 vs. 7,479; p < 0.001). The increase in the number of days of parenteral nutrition was also significant (999 vs. 1,412; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Establishing a hospital nutrition support team significantly increased the number of days of both enteral and parenteral nutrition in malnourished patients. The activity of the team is cost-effective and profitable for the hospital.

Keywords

• nutrition team
• enteral nutrition
• parenteral nutrition
• malnutrition