Relationship of the Nutritional Status at the Time of Admission to Mortality and the Length of the Hospital Stay.
- Author:
Ki Young YOON
1
;
Su Mi AHN
;
Yeon Myeong SHIN
;
Kyung Hyun CHOI
;
Moon Kyung JANG
;
Eun Jin KONG
;
Yun Mi SONG
Author Information
1. Department of Surgery, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea. yoonky@ns.Kosinmed.or.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Nutritional status;
Length of hospital stay;
Mortality
- MeSH:
Cholesterol;
Humans;
Ideal Body Weight;
Length of Stay*;
Liver Diseases;
Malnutrition;
Mortality*;
Nutritional Status*;
Prevalence;
Risk Factors;
Serum Albumin
- From:Journal of the Korean Surgical Society
2007;72(6):438-443
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: The length of a patient's stay in a hospital is an indication of the patient's recovery rate. The length of the hospital stay has an important economic factor for hospitals. This study was conducted to determine the relationship of the nutritional status at the time of admission to mortality and the length of the hospital stay (LOHS). METHODS: The study subjects were 1,619 patients who suffered with cancer, were admitted to Kosin University Gospel Hospital during 2005 and they met the study criteria. The patients were classified to the not at risk group, the patients having one risk factor for malnutrition were the I group, the patients having two risk factors for malnutrition were the II group, the patients having three risk factors for malnutrition were the III group and the patients having 4 risk factors for malnutrition were the IV group, based on the established criteria of serum albumin <3.0 g/dl, a total lympocyte count of <1,500 cells/mm3, a cholesterol level of > or =240 mg/dl or < or =130 mg/dl, weight for height > or =120% or <90% ideal body weight. RESULTS: 24.3% of the patients were classified into the not at risk group, 37.6% were classified into the at risk group I, 24.2% were classified into the at risk group II, 10.3% were classified into the at risk group III and 3.6% were classified into the at risk group IV. The at risk group (at risk III, at risk IV) had a significantly higher prevalence of liver disease. The relationship between liver disease and low serum albu-min levels may have confounded the data. Although the estimated LOHS was similar in all the groups, the average length of stay was 14.4+/-16.38 days in the malnourished group (at risk group IV) compared to approximately 2.8 days in the not at risk group. The more nutritional risk factors the patients had, the longer was the LOHS and the mortality rates were higher. Correlation was not observed between the risk factors and the length of the hospital stay, as well as the lack of correlation with the mortality rate. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a patient's nutritional status upon admission has an effect on the length of the hospital stay for patients with carcinoma.
