Profiling Malnutrition Prevalence among Australian Rural In-Patients Using a Retrospective Census of Electronic Medical Files over a 12-Month Period

Laura Alston, Megan Green, Vincent L Versace, Kristy A. Bolton, Kay Widdicombe, Alison Buccheri, Didir Imran, Steven Allender, Liliana Orellana and Melanie Nichols
Additional contact information
Laura Alston: Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), Institute for Health Transformation, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
Megan Green: Colac Area Health, Colac, VIC 3250, Australia
Vincent L Versace: Deakin Rural Health, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Kristy A. Bolton: Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Victoria, Australia
Kay Widdicombe: Colac Area Health, Colac, VIC 3250, Australia
Alison Buccheri: Colac Area Health, Colac, VIC 3250, Australia
Didir Imran: Colac Area Health, Colac, VIC 3250, Australia
Steven Allender: Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), Institute for Health Transformation, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
Liliana Orellana: Biostatistics Unit, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
Melanie Nichols: Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), Institute for Health Transformation, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-11

Abstract: In-patient malnutrition leads to poor outcomes and mortality, and it is largely uninvestigated in non-urban populations. This study sought to: (1) retrospectively estimate the prevalence of malnutrition as diagnosed by dietetics in the rural Australian setting; (2) establish the proportion of all patients at “nutritional risk”; and (3) explore associations between demographic and clinical factors with malnutrition diagnosis and nutritional risk. A retrospective census was undertaken of medical files of all patients aged ≥18 years admitted to a rural hospital setting over a 12-month period. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between malnutrition diagnosis, nutritional risk and patient-related factors. In total, 711 admissions were screened during the 12-month period comprising 567 patients. Among the 125 patients seen by dietitians, 70.4% were diagnosed with malnutrition. Across the total sample, 77.0% had high levels of nutrition related symptoms warranting a need for further assessment by dietitians. Malnutrition diagnosis by dietitians was associated with being over the age of 65 years, and patients had higher odds of being admitted to a residential aged care facility following discharge. In this rural sample, the diagnosis rate of malnutrition appeared to be high, indicating that rural in-patients may be at a high risk of malnutrition. There was also a high proportion of patients who had documentation in their files that indicated they may have benefited from dietetic assessment and intervention, beyond current resourcing.

Keywords: malnutrition; in-patients; rural; malnutrition risk; census; electronic medical files (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5909-:d:399203

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