Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies Are Highly Prevalent in Newly Diagnosed Celiac Disease Patients

Malabsorption, weight loss and vitamin/mineral-deficiencies characterize classical celiac disease (CD). This study aimed to assess the nutritional and vitamin/mineral status of current “early diagnosed” untreated adult CD-patients in the Netherlands. Newly diagnosed adult CD-patients were included (n = 80, 42.8 ± 15.1 years) and a comparable sample of 24 healthy Dutch subjects was added to compare vitamin concentrations. Nutritional status and serum concentrations of folic acid, vitamin A, B6, B12, and (25-hydroxy) D, zinc, haemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin were determined (before prescribing gluten free diet). Almost all CD-patients (87%) had at least one value below the lower limit of reference. Specifically, for vitamin A, 7.5% of patients showed deficient levels, for vitamin B6 14.5%, folic acid 20%, and vitamin B12 19%. Likewise, zinc deficiency was observed in 67% of the CD-patients, 46% had decreased iron storage, and 32% had anaemia. Overall, 17% were malnourished (>10% undesired weight loss), 22% of the women were underweight (Body Mass Index (BMI) < 18.5), and 29% of the patients were overweight (BMI > 25). Vitamin deficiencies were barely seen in healthy controls, with the exception of vitamin B12. Vitamin/mineral deficiencies were counter-intuitively not associated with a (higher) grade of histological intestinal damage or (impaired) nutritional status. In conclusion, vitamin/mineral deficiencies are still common in newly “early diagnosed” CD-patients, even though the prevalence of obesity at initial diagnosis is rising. Extensive nutritional assessments seem warranted to guide nutritional advices and follow-up in CD treatment

Malnutrition in patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer—prevalence and relationship with oral symptoms: an explorative study

This study aimed to assess prevalence of malnutrition after treatment for oral/oropharyngeal cancer and to explore how oral symptoms relate to malnutrition after treatment. In this cross-sectional study, malnutrition (weight loss a parts per thousand yenaEuro parts per thousand 10% in 6 months or a parts per thousand yen5% in 1 month), oral symptoms (EORTC QLQ-H&N35 questionnaire and additional questions to assess chewing problems), dental status, trismus and dietary intake were assessed in 116 adult patients treated for oral/oropharyngeal cancer. Prevalence of malnutrition was 16% (95%CI: 10% to 23%). Prevalence of malnutrition in the period 0-3 months after treatment was significantly higher (25%) than in the periods > 3-12 months (13%) and > 12-36 months after treatment (3%, p = 0.008). Logistic multivariate regression analysis revealed that swallowing problems (p = 0.021) and insufficient protein intake were significantly related to malnutrition (p = 0.016). In conclusion, malnutrition is a considerable problem in patients treated for oral/oropharyngeal cancer, shortly after treatment. Of all oral symptoms, only swallowing problems were significantly related to malnutrition in the period after treatment for oral/oropharyngeal cancer

Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form better predicts length of stay than Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire

Objective: Malnutrition screening instruments used in hospitals mainly include criteria to identify characteristics of malnutrition. However, to tackle malnutrition in an early stage, identifying risk factors for malnutrition in addition to characteristics may be valuable.The aim of this study was to determine the predictive validity of the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA SF), which addresses malnutrition characteristics and risk factors, and the Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire (SNAQ), which addresses mainly malnutrition characteristics, for length stay (LOS) in a mixed hospital population.Methods: Patients (N = 443) were screened with the PG-SGA SF and SNAQ in the first 72 h after admission the lung, cardiology, or surgery ward. The McNemar-Bowker test was used to investigate the symmetry between the SNAQ and PG-SGA SF categorization for low, medium, and high risk. The predictive value of the PG-SGA SF and SNAQ was assessed by gamma-regression before and after adjusting for several confounders.Results: Of the 443 patients included, 23% and 58% were categorized as being at medium/high risk for malnutrition according to the SNAQ and PG-SGA SF, respectively. The regression analysis indicated that LOS high-risk patients according to PG-SGA SF was 36% longer than that of low-risk patients (P = 0.001). LOS patients at high risk according to the SNAQ did not significantly differ from that of SNAQ low-risk patients.Conclusions: The PG-SGA SF, as a proactive malnutrition screening instrument, predicts LOS in various hospital wards, whereas the SNAQ, as a reactive instrument, does not. Therefore, we recommend the PG-SGA for proactive screening for malnutrition risk. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.</p

Nutrition screening tools used to identify malnutrition risk in hospitalized patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Background: Malnutrition is a clinical problem with a high prevalence in hospitalized adult patients. Many nutritional screening tools have been developed but there is no consensus on which 1 is more useful. The purpose of this review protocol is to provide an overview of which nutritional screening tool is most valid to identify malnutritional risk in hospitalized adult patients and to analyze the sensitivity and specificity of the different tools. Methods: The protocol of this systematic review and meta-analysis was registered on the INPLASY website (https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2020-9-0028/) and INPLASY registration number is INPLASY202090028. We will perform a systematic literature search of main databases: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and Web of Science and the Cochrane database. Also, grey literature will be search. Peer-reviewed studies published in English, Portuguese or Spanish language will be selected. Screening of titles, abstract and full text will be assessed for eligibility by 2 independent blinded reviewers and any discrepancies will be resolved via consensus. After screening the studies, a meta-analysis will be conducted, if it is possible. Results: Results from this systematic review will help health professionals to identify malnutrition in hospitalized patients and to make decisions to prevent or treat it as well as provide new clues to researchers. Conclusion: Our systematic review will provide aknowledge about the most valid malnutrition risk screening tool in hospitalized adult patients

Study protocol: Cost-effectiveness of transmural nutritional support in malnourished elderly patients in comparison with usual care

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is a common consequence of disease in older patients. Both in hospital setting and in community setting oral nutritional support has proven to be effective. However, cost-effectiveness studies are scarce. Therefore, the aim of our study is to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of transmural nutritional support in malnourished elderly patients, starting at hospital admission until three months after discharge. METHODS: This study is a randomized controlled trial. Patients are included at hospital admission and followed until three months after discharge. Patients are eligible to be included when they are > or = 60 years old and malnourished according to the following objective standards: Body Mass Index (BMI in kg/m2) < 20 and/or > or = 5% unintentional weight loss in the previous month and/or > or = 10% unintentional weight loss in the previous six months. We will compare usual nutritional care with transmural nutritional support (energy and protein enriched diet, two additional servings of an oral nutritional supplement, vitamin D and calcium supplementation, and consultations by a dietitian). Each study arm will consist of 100 patients. The primary outcome parameters will be changes in activities of daily living (determined as functional limitations and physical activity) between intervention and control group. Secondary outcomes will be changes in body weight, body composition, quality of life, and muscle strength. An economic evaluation from a societal perspective will be conducted alongside the randomised trial to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the intervention in comparison with usual care. CONCLUSION: In this randomized controlled trial we will evaluate the effect of transmural nutritional support in malnourished elderly patients after hospital discharge, compared to usual care. Primary endpoints of the study are changes in activities of daily living, body weight, body composition, quality of life, and muscle strength. An economic evaluation will be performed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the intervention in comparison with usual care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Netherlands Trial Register (ISRCTN29617677, registered 14-Sep-2005)

CHANGES IN NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND DIETARY INTAKE DURING AND AFTER HEAD AND NECK CANCER TREATMENT

Background. The purpose of this study was to test whether nutritional status of patients with head and neck cancer changes during and after treatment. Methods. Nutritional status (including body weight, lean mass, and fat mass) and dietary intake were assessed in 29 patients with head and neck cancer. Patients were assessed 1 week before, and 1 and 4 months after treatment (radiotherapy, either alone or combined with chemotherapy or surgery). Results. During treatment, body weight (-3.6 +/- 5.3 kg; p = .019) and lean mass (-2.43 +/- 2.81 kg; p = .001) significantly declined. Patients with sufficient intake (>= 35 kcal and >= 1.5 grams protein/kg body weight) lost less body weight and lean mass than patients with insufficient intake (mean difference, -4.0 +/- 1.9 kg; p = 0.048 and -2.1 +/- 1.0 kg; p = .054, respectively). After treatment, only patients with sufficient intake gained body weight (2.3 +/- 2.3 kg) and lean mass (1.2 +/- 1.3 kg). Conclusion. Patients with head and neck cancer fail to maintain or improve nutritional status during treatment, despite sufficient intake. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 33: 863-870, 201