Hospital Malnutrition rates Alarmingly High, Experts โCall for Systemic Screening
MADRID – Aโฃ newโ pushโฃ from healthcare associations isโ underway to address widespread, often undetected, malnutrition among hospitalized patients. Data reveals that one in four patients are at nutritional risk upon admission, a figure โthat climbs โขto 38% for elderlyโข individuals, raising concerns about increased mortality, longer hospital stays, and higher healthcare costs.
Irene Boj, speaking for the association, emphasized the urgency: “We want raise awareness aboutโ the importance of systematically integrate nutritional screening, from primary care to hospital care.”
The call for action comes asโ experts highlight โsignificant challenges in preventingโ and treating disease-related malnutrition. Key โrecommendations include implementingโฃ standardized detectionโค protocols,establishing earlyโข warning systems,and integratingโฃ nutrition into broaderโค health policies. Furthermore, the association stresses the need to incorporate nutritional care as a core component of patient treatment and to foster collaborative, multiprofessional teams for extensive evaluation.
A promising avenue for intervention gaining traction is oral nutritional supplementation. Clinical trials demonstrate its effectiveness in reducingโค mortality, shortening hospital stays, lowering readmission rates, and decreasing overall treatment costs for malnourished patients. Experts supportโค its use, citing “a strong degreeโ of suggestion in clinical practice guidelines” and positive cost-effectiveness analyses.