Improvement of energy and protein intake after dietetic intervention among COVID-19 patients in a rehabilitation and convalescent hospital

Background and objectives: Malnutrition is frequently seen in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and studies suggested malnutrition rate among COVID-19 patients ranged from 27.5% to 82.6%. Poor nutrition status often contributes to lower rehabilitation potential and poorer clinical outcome of the COVID-19 rehabilitation patients. The aims of this study are to investigate the nutrition status, energy and protein intake and the adequacy before and after dietetic intervention among COVID-19 patients in a rehabilitation hospital. Methods: Total 93 COVID-19 patients admitted to the Shatin Hospital for rehabilitation purpose during the admission period from February to April 2022, were recruited for the analysis. Electronic dietetics records of patients who have seen a dietitian for nutrition support were retrieved. Information such as gender, age, weight, BMI and malnutrition risk were collected. Energy intake and protein intake were compared at the baseline and the follow-up dietetic assessment. Patients who has no nutrition intake at the follow-up assessment were excluded. The estimated energy and protein requirement for this patient group were used to calculate the energy and protein adequacy in percentage, and compared between baseline and post-dietetic intervention. Results: There were 41 males and 52 females, the mean age was 81.4±12.3 years old, mean weight 48.4±11.3kg and BMI 18.9±3.7kg/m². There were 54% patient was underweight (BMI