Figure 1.
Participants in the nutrition intervention and the reasons for exclusion or dropout from the study.
Figure 2.
Proposed clinical nutrition pathway.
Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the sample.
| Characteristics | Values (n=94) |
|---|---|
| Basic variables | |
| Female | 59 (63%) |
| Male | 35 (37%) |
| Age, y | 68 [15] (20–92) |
| Living conditions | |
| Alone | 21 (22%) |
| Community (family) | 31 (33%) |
| With partner | 42 (45%) |
| Comorbidities | |
| Cardiovascular diseases (including CAF) | 37 (39%) |
| Pulmonary diseases | 4 (4%) |
| Diabetes and other endocrine diseases | 12 (13%) |
| Kidney diseases | 4 (4%) |
| Gastrointestinal diseases | 26 (28%) |
| Diseases of the liver and pancreas | 3 (3%) |
| Oncological diagnoses | 29 (31%) |
| Wounds | 2 (2%) |
| Neurological diseases | 6 (6%) |
| Rheumatological diseases | 2 (2%) |
| COVID-19 | 2 (2%) |
| Other | 13 (14%) |
[i] Note: Values are mean [SD] (minimum-maximum) for normally distributed continuous data and n (%) for categorical data Legend: y=years, CAF=Chronical Atrial Fibrillation, COVID-19=Coronavirus Disease 2019
Table 2.
Comorbidity distribution based on the risk groups (MUST).
| Characteristics | MUST= 0 | MUST≥1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One comorbidity | 9 | 53% | 46 | 60% |
| Two comorbidities | 7 | 41% | 26 | 34% |
| Three or more comorbidities | 1 | 6% | 5 | 6% |
| Total | 17 | 100% | 77 | 100% |
[i] Legend: MUST=Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool; MUST=0 indicates patients at low risk of malnutrition, MUST≥1 indicates patients with moderate or high risk of malnutrition
Table 3.
Contingency table showing frequencies and proportions of patients based on the risk groups (MUST) at the beginning and after six months.
| MUST score at the beginning | MUST score after 6 months | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | ≥2 | SUM | |
| 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 94% | 0% | 6% | 100% | |
| 1 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 30 |
| 83% | 13% | 3% | 100% | |
| ≥2 | 27 | 12 | 8 | 47 |
| 57% | 26% | 17% | 100% | |
[i] Legend: MUS=Malnutrition Screening Tool
Table 4.
Comparison of changes in nutritional status, nutritional intake and functional status in a subgroup of patients with MUST≥1 (n=77).
| Nutritional status values | 1st assessment | 2nd assessment | 3rd assessment | 4th assessment | Improvement (p value*) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BM (kg) | 60.9 (56.50) | 60.9 (56.50) | 63.3 (59.0) | 64.0 (60.0) | <0.001 |
| [14.9] | [14.9] | [15.4] | [15.3] | ||
| (39.1, 100.0) | (39.1, 100.0) | (39.5, 102.3) | (40.0, 103.7) | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 22.0 (20.7) | 22.0 (20.7) | 22.8 (21.3) | 23.1 (21.9) | <0.001 |
| [4.9] | [4.9] | [4.8] | [4.7] | ||
| (14.5, 41.1) | (14.5, 41.1) | (14.1, 39.0) | (14.3, 39.0) | ||
| FFM (kg) | 41.5 (38.6) | 41.5 (38.6) | 42.7 (39.7) | 42.8 (39.2) | <0.001 |
| [11.4] | [11.4] | [11.8] | [11.7] | ||
| (19.8, 73.0) | (19.8, 73.0) | (20.2, 77.2) | (20.4, 76.1) | ||
| FFMI (kg/m2) | 14.8 (14.5) | 14.8 (14.5) | 15.3 (14.8) | 15.3 (14.8) | <0.001 |
| [3.0] | [3.0] | [3.0] | [3.0] | ||
| (9.2, 22.5) | (9.2, 22.5) | (7.9, 23.8) | (8.1, 23.5) | ||
| Nutritional intake | |||||
| Energy (kcal/kg TM) | 20.7 (20.3) | 20.7 (20.3) | 28.1 (28.7) | 30.3 (30.0) | <0.001 |
| [7.6] | [7.6] | [7.7] | [7.1] | ||
| (5.6, 41.0) | (5.6, 41.0) | (3.1, 46.7) | (13.3, 53.3) | ||
| Energy (kcal/d) | 1217 (1121) | 1217 (1121) | 1722 (1744) | 1876 (1945) | <0.001 |
| [415] | [415] | [438] | [377] | ||
| (369, 2339) | (369, 2339) | (155, 3176) | (850, 2749) | ||
| Protein (g/kg TM) | 0.9 (0.9) | 0.9 (0.9) | 1.3 (1.3) | 1.4 (1.4) | <0.001 |
| [0.4] | [0.4] | [0.4] | [0.4] | ||
| (0.1, 2.3) | (0.1, 2.3) | (0.3, 2.6) | (0.5, 2.5) | ||
| Functional status | |||||
| PA (°) | 4.7 (4.7) | 4.7 (4.7) | 5.0 (4.9) | 5.0 (4.9) | <0.001 |
| [1.0] | [1.0] | [1.0] | [0.9] | ||
| (2.4, 7.6) | (2.4, 7.6) | (2.5, 8.8) | (2.8, 7.5) | ||
| Grip strength (kg) | 24 (23) | 24 (23) | 26 (24) | 26 (24) | 0.080 |
| [11] | [11] | [12] | [12] | ||
| (1, 62) | (1, 62) | (1, 64) | (1, 64) | ||
Note: Values are mean (median) [SD] (minimum–maximum).
Legend: BM=Body Mass, BMI=Body Mass Index, FFM=Fat-Free Mass, FFMI=Fat-Free Mass Index, TM=Total Body Mass, kcal/kg TM=energy intake per kilogram of total body mass, kcal/d=daily energy intake, g/kg TM=daily protein intake per kilogram of total mass, PA=Phase Angle