EVALUATION OF CALORIC INTAKE, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES ON POSTOPERATIVE REFEEDING IN DIGESTIVE SURGERY IN NGAOUNDERE HOSPITALS, ADAMAWA REGION, CAMEROON

Background and objective: Insufficient caloric intake among postoperative digestive surgery patients, linked to a lack of knowledge and practices regarding their re-feeding, is a frequent health problem in developing countries. The aim of this study was to assess the caloric intake of postoperative digestive surgery patients, as well as the knowledge and practices related to their refeeding in two hospitals in the city of Ngaoundere. Methods: This was an observational, analytical, cross-sectional, prospective cohort study over a 5 months period from June to November 2022, focusing on the patients, the diets of post-digestive surgery patients, their nurses, and the operating theatre nursing staff. Caloric targets were defined as those with mean intakes above 15 kcal/kg/day at day 3 and 25 kcal/kg/day at discharge. Results: A total of 134 patients, 240 caretakers, 20 nursing staff, and 614 dieters (meals) were included in the study. Males were more represented, with rates of 82.1%, 56.7%, and 75% for patients, nurses, and staff respectively. 25.4% of day-3 caloric targets and 24.6% of discharge caloric targets were met. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to investigate daily variations in means for each macronutrient, the difference being significant at p