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Malnutrition in critical care is highly prevalent and well documented to have adverse implications on morbidity and mortality. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the evolving literature has been able to identify high risk groups in whom unfavourable outcomes are more common, for example, obesity, premorbid status, male sex, members from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community and others. Nutritional status and provision precritical and pericritical phase of COVID-19 illness is gaining traction in the literature assessing how this can influence the clinical course. It is therefore of importance to understand and address the challenges present in critical care nutrition and to identify and mitigate factors contributing to malnutrition specific to this patient group. We report a case of significant disease burden and the associated cachexia and evidence of malnutrition in a young 36-year-old male with Somalian heritage with no pre-existing medical conditions but presenting with severe COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic (March 2020). We highlight some key nutritional challenges during the critical phase of illness signposting to some of the management instigated to counter this. These considerations are hoped to provide further insight to help continue to evolve nutritional management when treating patients with COVID-19.
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COVID-19 is an inflammatory syndrome caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Symptoms range from mild infection to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring ventilation and intensive care. At the time of data collection, UK cases were around 300 000 with a fatality rate of 13% necessitating over 10 000 critical care admissions; now there have been over 4 million cases. Nutrition is important to immune function and influences metabolic risk factors such as obesity and glycaemic control, as well as recovery from acute illnesses. Poor nutritional status is associated with worse outcomes in ARDS and viral infections, yet limited research has assessed pre-morbid nutritional status and outcomes in patients critically unwell with COVID-19. OBJECTIVES: Investigate the effect of body mass index (BMI), glycaemic control and vitamin D status on outcomes in adult patients with COVID-19 admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: Retrospective review of all patients admitted to a central London ICU between March and May 2020 with confirmed COVID-19. Electronic patient records data were analysed for patient demographics; comorbidities; admission BMI; and serum vitamin D, zinc, selenium and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) concentrations. Serum vitamin D and HbA1c were measured on admission, or within 1 month of admission to ICU. Primary outcome of interest was mortality. Secondary outcomes included time intubated, ICU stay duration and ICU-related morbidity. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients; 54 (75%) men, mean age 57.1 (±9.8) years, were included. Overall, mortality was 24 (33%). No significant association with mortality was observed across BMI categories. In the survival arm admission, HbA1c (mmol/mol) was lower, 50.2 vs 60.8, but this was not statistically significant. Vitamin D status did not significantly associate with mortality (p=0.131). However, 32% of patients with low vitamin D (<25 IU/L) died, compared with 13% of patients with vitamin D levels >26 IU/L. Serum zinc and selenium, and vitamin B12 and folate levels were measured in 46% and 26% of patients, respectively. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Increased adiposity and deranged glucose homeostasis may potentially increase risk of COVID-19 infection and severity, possibly relating to impaired lung and metabolic function, increased proinflammatory and prothrombotic mechanisms. Vitamin D deficiency may also associate with poorer outcomes and mortality, supporting a possible role of vitamin D in immune function specific to pulmonary inflammation and COVID-19 pathophysiology. There are plausible associations between raised BMI, glycaemic control, vitamin D status and poor prognosis, as seen in wider studies; however, in this service evaluation audit during the first wave of the pandemic in the UK, with a limited data set available for this analysis, the associations did not reach statistical significance. Further research is needed into specific nutritional markers influencing critical care admissions with COVID-19.
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Existing micronutrient deficiencies, even if only a single micronutrient, can impair immune function and increase susceptibility to infectious disease. Certain population groups are more likely to have micronutrient deficiencies, while certain disease pathologies and treatment practices also exacerbate risk, meaning these groups tend to suffer increased morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. Optimisation of overall nutritional status, including micronutrients, can be effective in reducing incidence of infectious disease. Micronutrient deficiencies are rarely recognised but are prevalent in the UK, as well as much more widely, particularly in high-risk groups susceptible to COVID-19. Practitioners should be aware of this fact and should make it a consideration for the screening process in COVID-19, or when screening may be difficult or impractical, to ensure blanket treatment as per the best practice guidelines. Correction of established micronutrient deficiencies, or in some cases assumed suboptimal status, has the potential to help support immune function and mitigate risk of infection. The effects of and immune response to COVID-19 share common characteristics with more well-characterised severe acute respiratory infections. Correction of micronutrient deficiencies has proven effective in several infectious diseases and has been shown to promote favourable clinical outcomes. Micronutrients appear to play key roles in mediating the inflammatory response and such effects may be enhanced through correction of deficiencies. Many of those at highest risk during the COVID-19 pandemic are also populations at highest risk of micronutrient deficiencies and poorer overall nutrition. Correction of micronutrient deficiencies in established COVID-19 infection may contribute to supporting immune response to infection in those at highest risk. There is a need for further research to establish optimal public health practice and clinical intervention regimens.
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INTRODUCTION: Like many of the biological sciences, nutrition has rapidly become a science which relies heavily on data collection, analysis and presentation. Knowledge gaps exist where data does not, and so the fifth annual International Summit on Medical and Public Health Nutrition Education and Research was held to address the theme of 'Closing the Gap: Data-based Decisions in Food, Nutrition and Health Systems'. SETTING: Homerton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge in July 2019. KEY FINDINGS: Data-driven decision making is more likely to lead to positive change in areas such as malnutrition, food insecurity and food production. These decisions must be informed by multiple stakeholders from various backgrounds in multisectorial collaboration. Case examples presented at the Summit contribute to the International Knowledge Application Network in Nutrition 2025, which aims to help identify and close gaps in nutrition and healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: Formation of international networks are required to advance nutrition research, identify gaps and generate high-quality data. These data can be used to adequately train healthcare professionals resulting in positive impact on clinical and public health. Strengthening collaboration between existing networks will be essential in sharing data for better health outcomes.
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BACKGROUND: One in four adults are estimated to be at medium to high risk of malnutrition when screened using the 'Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool' upon admission to hospital in the United Kingdom. The Need for Nutrition Education/Education Programme (NNEdPro) Group was developed to address this issue and the Nutrition Education and Leadership for Improved Clinical Outcomes (NELICO) is a project within this group.The objective of NELICO was to assess whether an intensive training intervention combining clinical and public health nutrition, organisational management and leadership strategies, could equip junior doctors to contribute to improvement in nutrition awareness among healthcare professionals in the National Health Service in England. METHODS: Three junior doctors were self-selected from the NNEdPro Group original training. Each junior doctor recruited three additional team members to attend an intensive training weekend incorporating nutrition, change management and leadership. This equipped them to run nutrition awareness weeks in their respective hospitals. Knowledge, attitudes and practices were evaluated at baseline as well as one and four months post-training as a quality assurance measure. The number and type of educational events held, pre-awareness week Online Hospital Survey results, attendance and qualitative feedback from training sessions, effectiveness of dissemination methods such as awareness stalls, Hospital Nutrition Attitude Survey results and overall feedback were also used to determine impact. RESULTS: When the weighted average score for knowledge, attitudes and practices at baseline was compared with four months post-intervention scores, there was a significant increase in the overall score (p = 0.03). All three hospital teams conducted an effective nutrition awareness week, as determined by qualitative data collected from interviews and feedback from educational sessions. CONCLUSION: The NELICO project and its resulting nutrition awareness weeks were considered innovative in terms of concept and content. It was considered useful, both for the junior doctors who showed improvement in their nutrition knowledge and reported enthusiasm and for the hospital setting, increasing awareness of clinical and public health nutrition among healthcare professionals. The NELICO project is one innovative method to promote nutrition awareness in tomorrow's doctors and shows they have the enthusiasm and drive to be nutrition champions.