Effectiveness of Nutritional Intervention Led by Clinical Dietitian in Patients at Risk of Malnutrition at the Primary Healthcare Level in Slovenia - Evaluation Study.

Introduction: Clinical dietitians play a crucial role in the nutritional support of patients at risk of malnutrition in primary care settings. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of an individualized nutritional intervention on clinically relevant outcomes for patients with chronic disease at nutritional risk. Methods: A longitudinal evaluation study was conducted in two Slovenian primary health centres. We used pre-test and post-test design. Patients with chronic disease were screened using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool and additional risk factors (≥70 years and BMI <22 kg/m2; lower food intake in the last five days). Patients at nutritional risk were referred to a clinical dietitian for individual nutritional intervention. The effect of the nutritional intervention was assessed six months after the patients' first visit with a clinical dietitian. Results: The sample included 94 patients. Nutritional risk was reduced significantly in high-risk and moderate-risk patients. In a subgroup of patients with a MUST score ≥1 (77 patients), body weight, BMI, Fat-Free Mass Index (FFMI), energy intake, and protein intake increased significantly (p<0.001). At the same time, the phase angle significantly increased (p<0.001), but there were no statistically significant changes in the improvement of grip strength. In a subgroup of patients with MUST score 0 (17 patients), we observed an increase in their median daily energy intake (p<0.001) and median protein intake (p=0.003). Conclusion: Nutritional intervention delivered by a clinical dietitian improved patients' nutritional intake and nutritional and functional status.

Factors for Effective Identification of Patients at Nutritional Risk in Clinical Practice: Thematic Analysis of Qualitative Research.

Introduction: Despite the high prevalence of malnutrition in patients at all levels of healthcare, early prevention and treatment of malnourished patients are often neglected and overlooked in clinical practice. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify the factors considered most important by healthcare professionals in the identification and treatment of malnourished patients or those at risk of malnutrition. Methods: A systematic literature review of qualitative research was conducted. Documents published in scientific journals in English from 2011 to 2021 were searched in the PubMed (MEDLINE), CINAHL and ProQuest databases. The results were analysed with a thematic analysis of qualitative research findings. Results: From the search set of 1010 results, 7 sources were included in the final analysis. Factors identified by health professionals as important in the identification and treatment of malnourished patients in clinical practice were grouped into five themes: unclear organizational structure; indefinite structure of nutritional care; poor continuity of nutritional care; lack of knowledge and skills of health professionals; lack of time and human resources. Conclusions: Health policy must provide resources for nutritional care for patients at all levels of health care on the initiative of the highest professional bodies at the state level. To improve the nutritional care of patients in clinical practice, the management of health care institutions must promote and enable the professional and organizational establishment of clinical nutrition as a regular medical activity of the institution, develop clinical nutritional pathways, and promote evidence-based clinical practice and interprofessional collaboration.

A multi-center survey on hospital malnutrition and cachexia in Slovenia.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition has become a prevalent condition, with European and international studies reporting rates of approximately 25-40% in hospitals. We set out to perform a multi-center cross-sectional study to assess malnutrition rates in Slovenian hospitals and to convert the findings into a mobile application suitable for use by nurses and staff at the bedside. In addition, we examined the association of the results of this mobile application with parameters for body composition measured by bioimpedance method, muscle strength, anthropometrics, and specific blood markers. METHODS: We selected the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) method, the second version of the modified short-form of Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA-SF), and the diagnostic criteria for cachexia proposed by Evans (CDE) as evidence-based methods for estimating the risk of and prevalence of malnutrition or/and cachexia. The methods were converted into the Android mobile application named MalNut that was used in three Slovenian hospitals by nurses and dietitians. RESULTS: We applied NRS-2002 and MNA-SF to screen for malnutrition risk and to assess malnutrition in 207 individuals aged 18 years and older, regardless of gender or reason for hospitalization during 1-week periods. Totally, 98% of these patients consider nutrition an important part of medical treatment care. NRS-2002 estimated the malnutrition risk to be 66.3%, which includes both patients to be at risk for malnutrition and patients that are truly malnourished. The malnutrition risk in the elderly (65+) estimated by MNA-SF was 39.6% and malnutrition 42.5%. When applying the CDE score in these two categories, 66.7% were identified as cachectic and 21.4% as pre-cachectic. In the patients assessed with the CDE score, malnutrition risk increased with higher extracellular water and decreased body mass index, hemoglobin, phase angle, and muscle strength. In all, 75% of patients assessed as high risk for malnutrition by NRS-2002, were identified as cachectic and 15.7% as pre-cachectic. In NRS-2002 assessed patients, this risk increased with higher C-reactive protein and lower phase angle. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that both malnutrition and cachexia are largely overlapping notions and are common in hospitalized adults in Slovenia. The MNA-SF and NRS-2002 tools showed that malnutrition risk was not significantly correlated with age, gender, serum albumin, but was correlated with lower phase angle, CRP, and muscle strength in elderly patients. The results have been used to develop further nutritional interventions in Slovenia.

Oral glutamine supplementation during preoperative radiochemotherapy in patients with rectal cancer: a randomised double blinded, placebo controlled pilot study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Enteral glutamine may have protective effects on gut function and reduce metabolic stress in patients receiving radiochemotherapy. The aim of our study was to evaluate its influence in patients with rectal cancer undergoing preoperative radiochemotherapy. METHODS: We performed a randomized double blind, placebo controlled pilot study in 33 patients. 30 g of glutamine, average dose 0.41 g/kg (SD = 0.07) g/kg/day was administered orally in three doses per day for five weeks during preoperative radiochemotherapy of rectal cancer. 30 g of maltodextrin was given as placebo. Body weight was measured and NRS 2002 screening was performed before and after treatment. Bowel function was evaluated by stool consistency and frequency. Plasma levels of inflammatory parameters and hormones were measured. RESULTS: There was no difference between groups in frequency and severity of diarrhoea during radiochemotherapy (p = 0.5 and p = 0.39 respectively), insulin levels significantly increased in both groups, IL-6 only in glutamine group. CONCLUSION: Results of this small pilot study in rectal cancer patients receiving preoperative radiochemotherapy, showed that ingestion of larger quantities of glutamine given more often as previously reported did not diminish the incidence and severity of diarrhoea and did not affect inflammatory and metabolic activity compared to the placebo treatment with maltodextrin.