A Qualitative Exploration of Nutrition Screening, Assessment and Oral Support Used in Patients Undergoing Cancer Surgery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Preoperative undernutrition is a prognostic indicator for postoperative mortality and morbidity. Evidence suggests that treating undernutrition can improve surgical outcomes. This study explored the provision of nutritional screening, assessment and support on surgical cancer wards in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This was a qualitative study and participants took part in one focus group or one individual interview. Data were analysed thematically. There were 34 participants from Ghana, India, the Philippines and Zambia: 24 healthcare professionals (HCPs) and 10 patients. Results showed that knowledge levels and enthusiasm were high in HCPs. Barriers to adequate nutritional support were a lack of provision of ward and kitchen equipment, food and sustainable nutritional supplements. There was variation across countries towards nutritional screening and assessment which seemed to be driven by resources. Many hospitals where resources were scarce focused on the care of individual patients in favour of an integrated systems approach to identify and manage undernutrition. In conclusion, there is scope to improve the efficiency of nutritional management of surgical cancer patients in LMICs through the integration of nutrition assessment and support into routine hospital policies and procedures, moving from case management undertaken by interested personnel to a system-based approach including the whole multidisciplinary team.

Impact of home parenteral nutrition on family members: A national multi-centre cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) is a necessary treatment for patients with chronic, type 3, intestinal failure (IF). HPN often requires lifestyle adaptations, which are likely to affect quality of life (QoL) in both patients and family members. The aim of this study was to identify the level of burden on family members who are involved with HPN care and to understand specific factors that contribute to any burden. METHODS: Patients over the age of 18 and receiving HPN were identified in IF clinics from multiple centres across the U.K. Eligible patients were asked to complete the parenteral nutrition impact questionnaire (PNIQ) to assess their QoL, while family members were asked to complete the burden scale for family caregivers (BSFC). Logistical regression was undertaken giving adjusted odds ratios (aOR). RESULTS: 678 participants completed the survey representing 339 patients with their appointed family member. Mean PNIQ score was 11.53 (S.D. 5.5), representing a moderate impact of HPN on patients' QoL. On the BSFC scale, 23% of family members reported a moderate to very severe subjective burden indicating an increased risk of psychosomatic symptoms. After adjusting for age and gender, predictors of BSFC included: family members self-reported health status using the EuroQol visual analogue scale (aOR 19.91, 95% CI 1.69, 233.99, p = 0.017) and support received by health services (aOR = 5.83, 95% CI = 1.93, 17.56, p = 0.002). Employment status, disease type, number of nights on HPN and length of time on HPN were not associated with BSFC. CONCLUSIONS: Family members with a poor health status or lack of support by health service were more likely to have a moderate to very severe subjective burden. Tailored support from the multi-professional IF team may reduce the burden experienced by family members of people dependent on HPN.

Home parenteral nutrition for people with inoperable malignant bowel obstruction.

BACKGROUND: People with advanced ovarian or gastrointestinal cancer may develop malignant bowel obstruction (MBO). They are able to tolerate limited, if any, oral or enteral (via a tube directly into the gut) nutrition. Parenteral nutrition (PN) is the provision of macronutrients, micronutrients, electrolytes and fluid infused as an intravenous solution and provides a method for these people to receive nutrients. There are clinical and ethical arguments for and against the administration of PN to people receiving palliative care. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of home parenteral nutrition (HPN) in improving survival and quality of life in people with inoperable MBO. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the following electronic databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2018, Issue 1), MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), BNI, CINAHL, Web of Science and NHS Economic Evaluation and Health Technology Assessment up to January 2018, ClinicalTrials.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov/) and in the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) search portal (http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/). In addition, we handsearched included studies and used the 'Similar articles' feature on PubMed for included articles. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included any studies with more than five participants investigating HPN in people over 16 years of age with inoperable MBO. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We extracted the data and assessed risk of bias for each study. We entered data into Review Manager 5 and used GRADEpro to assess the quality of the evidence. MAIN RESULTS: We included 13 studies with a total of 721 participants in the review. The studies were observational, 12 studies had only one relevant treatment arm and no control and for the one study with a control arm, very few details were given. The risk of bias was high and the certainty of evidence was graded as very low for all outcomes. Due to heterogeneity of data, meta-analysis was not performed and therefore the data were synthesised via a narrative summary.The evidence for benefit derived from PN was very low for survival and quality of life. All the studies measured overall survival and 636 (88%) of participants were deceased at the end of the study. However there were varying definitions of overall survival that yielded median survival intervals between 15 to 155 days (range three to 1278 days). Three studies used validated measures of quality of life. The results from assessment of quality of life were equivocal; one study reported improvements up until three months and two studies reported approximately similar numbers of participants with improvements and deterioration. Different quality of life scales were used in each of the studies and quality of life was measured at different time points. Due to the very low certainty of the evidence, we are very uncertain about the adverse events related to PN use. Adverse events were measured by nine studies and data for individual participants could be extracted from eight studies. This revealed that 32 of 260 (12%) patients developed a central venous catheter infection or were hospitalised because of complications related to PN. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We are very uncertain whether HPN improves survival or quality of life in people with MBO as the certainty of evidence was very low for both outcomes. As the evidence base is limited and at high risk of bias, further higher-quality prospective studies are required.