Prevalence of Malnutrition Amongst Adult Patients Admitted to Emam Ali Hospital in Zahedan, 2016

Malnutrition in hospitalized patients is a major health problem, which has devastating effects on the healthcare system. The main objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of malnutrition in adult patients on admission to the hospital. In a cross-sectional study, 450 adult patients (mean aged 44.6 ± 15.3 years), on admission to the hospital, were selected from a general teaching hospital in Zahedan, Iran. The assessment of malnutrition was performed based on the anthropometric parameters and using of malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST). In addition, serum albumin level was also measured. The prevalence of malnutrition, according to the MUST criteria, was 40%. The prevalence in age group > 50 years old was markedly higher compared to those < 30 years (56.2% vs. 37.7%, OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 0.71 - 2.5; P < 0.01). The patients with mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) < 5th (53.6% vs. 31.9%, OR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.93 - 3.47; P = 0.009) and also those with serum albumin < 3 g/dL (71.9 % vs 50%, OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 0.93 - 2.2; P = 0.047) had significantly higher odds of malnutrition as compared to normal patients. The highest prevalence of malnutrition was observed in the nephrology ward (48%). The findings showed that the prevalence of malnutrition in patients admitted is relatively high. Since, nutritional status may be deteriorated during hospital stay, it is suggested that nutritional screening by a simple procedure are applied at admission to hospital.