Background

Malnutrition is a usually observed condition among patients with different chronic or acute disease. Malnutrition considered one of sturdiest indicators of mortality and morbidity. In Palestine the research field about nutrition  is still empirical and need broad and comprehensive research.  Three different cross sectional studies were performed to assess the prevalence of malnutrition and to explore the probable factors related to malnutrition among a patients with different chronic diseases.

Methods

Five cross sectional studies were conducted by our research team at different clinical setting in West Bank; the first  cross-sectional study was conducted among  hemodialysis patients in Hebron Governmental Hospital, followed by another study among the same patients conducted at An-Najah Natioal university hospital. Other two studies were conducted among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Latest study was conducted among IBD patients.  All the conducted studies focused on nutritional status assessment, mainly the presence of Malnutrition. More than one screening tool for malnutrition was used according to availability of the data and the type of the disease. The risk factors of malnutrition were examined in each study separately using univariate  and multivariate analysis.  

Results

In the  aforementioned studies the results revealed considerable prevalence of Malnutrition ranged from 35% - 65% . Malnutrition was associated with modifiable and no modifiable risk factors. Additionally, it was linked to poor clinical outcomes, low quality of life, and poor functional status.

Conclusions

A high prevalence of malnutrition was revealed in all of the conducted research with significant association with poor health and clinical outcome.  The finding from these studies highlighted the importance of nutrition in chronic diseases management. It is suggested that our hospitals develop a nutrition support system. Further research is needed utilizing different study design to identify the modifiable risk factors of malnutrition. Studies on intervention education for patients and medical personnel are urgently needed.

Keywords

Malnutrition, Prevalence, screening, risk factors, health outcome

Conference Title

The international ocnference for enhancing the clinical nutrition in Palestine

Conference Country

Palestine

Conference Date

March 14, 2023 - March 16, 2023

Conference Sponsor

Erasmus plus

Additional Info

Conference Website