Abstract

Background: Undernourishment is common in patients admitted for surgery, which is often unrecognized and worsens during hospitalization. So, prevalence of malnutrition also increases in the hospitalized patients.
Objective: To assess the change in nourishment of prolonged hospitalized patients. For that the nutritional status of patients at the time of admission and discharge was assessed.
Materials and Methods: All patients admitted in the surgery ward for more than 7 days were included in the study. The data of patients were recorded at the time of admission and at the time of discharge. The data recorded were demographic data, daily dietary intake, and anthropometric parameters such as height, weight, mid-arm circumference, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin level, albumin level, and albumin/globulin ratio. Result: There was a significant decrease in mean weight (from 50.24 ± 9.73 to 47.86 ± 9.90 kg), mean BMI (from 2 19.89 ± 3.59 to 18.92 ± 3.60 kg/m ), triceps skinfold (from 7.26 ± 2.02 to 6.00 ± 2.07 mm), and mean albumin level (from 3.47 ± 0.38 to 2.99 ± 0.44 g/dL) of the patients after a prolonged hospital stay. Conclusion: After a prolonged stay of the patients in the surgical ward, changes occurred in their nutritional status. It is important to closely monitor the nutritional status of the patients during hospitalization and to correct it accordingly to prevent the consequences of malnutrition.