Resumen

CRUZ, Viviana; BERNAL, Laura; BUITRAGO, Giancarlo  y  RUIZ, Álvaro J. Screening for malnutrition among hospitalized patients in a Colombian University Hospital. Rev. méd. Chile [online]. 2017, vol.145, n.4, pp.449-457. ISSN 0034-9887.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0034-98872017000400005.

Background: On admission, 30 to 50% of hospitalized patients have some degree of malnutrition, which is associated with longer length of stay, higher rates of complications, mortality and greater costs. Aim: To determine the frequency of screening for risk of malnutrition in medical records and assess the usefulness of the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST). Material and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we searched for malnutrition screening in medical records, and we applied the MST tool to hospitalized patients at the Internal Medicine Wards of San Ignacio University Hospital. Results: Of 295 patients included, none had been screened for malnutrition since hospital admission. Sixty one percent were at nutritional risk, with a higher prevalence among patients with HIV (85.7%), cancer (77.5%) and pneumonia. A positive MST result was associated with a 3.2 days increase in length of hospital stay (p = 0.024). Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition risk in hospitalized patients is high, but its screening is inadequate and it is underdiagnosed. The MST tool is simple, fast, low-cost, and has a good diagnostic performance.

Palabras clave : Length of Stay; Malnutrition; Mass Screening.

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