Nutritional Status and Patient Characteristics Upon Length of Stay, Clinical Outcome, and Survival in Older Hospitalized Patients

Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) describes undernutrition or imbalances in energy, protein, or other nutrient-needs, caused by a concomitant disease. Nutritional status plays a vital role in the fate of hospitalized patients, and DRM is associated with loss of function and decreased survival.

DRM is a common condition in patients with acute illnesses, approximately 30% among medical inpatients are malnourished when admitteed to the hospital, and rise higher among the older or critically ill. Physiologically malnutrition is associated with a) poorer tissue healing and restitution after severe disease, b) suppressed immune function and resistance towards infections, c) poorer metabolic defense towards critical disease, d) delayed and poorer progress of chronic diseases. In addition, inadequate nutrition is coupled to a prolonged hospital stay, resulting in more readmissions, and overall higher mortality in hospital patients. Yet, nutritional status of patients upon hospital admittance is seldom systematically assessed and the consequences of DRM in older acutely admitted patients still needs to be understood.

This project will provide a detailed description of nutritional, physiolgical, and biochemical status of 1500 acutely admitted patients. In relation, the study will investigate the relation between patient characteristics and disease progression. The obtained data will also be coupled to patient registers to investigate the link between length of hospital stay, readmissions and acute contact, and mortality.