NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS BY SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS OF ASUNCIÓN AND METROPOLITAN AREA DURING 2017. PRELIMINARIE STUDY

Background and objectives: Hospital malnutrition is highly prevalent in Latin America. Studies done in Paraguay in 2003 showed a prevalence of malnutrition of 50,9%. The aim of this study was to determine the nutrition status by subjective parameters in adult hospitalized patients in Public Hospitals of Asuncion and the Metropolitan Area during 2017. Methods: Cross sectional study enrolled hospitalized patients older than 18 y hospitalized in 8 highly complex Public Hospitals of Asuncion and Metropolitan Area during 2017. We used the Subjective Global Assessment tool to assesses malnutrition. Results: There were 145 patients enrolled whose mean age was 50,3 ± 16,7 years. The 51,7% (n=75) was men, 53% (n=77) had clinic pathologies and 13,9% (n=20) was infected. The study showed that 51% (n=74) of patients had a BMI between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2. The mean of BMI was 25,6±5,4 kg/m2. We found that 35,2% (n=51) patients had lost more than 10% of their usual weight in the previous 6 months, 73,8% (n=107) had dietary intake change, 21,4% (n=31) had gastrointestinal symptoms and 80,7% (n=117) had functional capacity dysfunction. Malnutrition was present in 50.3% (n=73) of the patients. Severe malnutrition was present in 19,3% (n=28) of them. Conclusions: Hospital malnutrition is still highly prevalent. Data related to severe malnutrition increased in relation to previous data. Keyword