Desnutrición Intrahospitalaria: ELAN – ECUADOR. Hospital Homero Castanier Crespo, Azogues. Provincia del Cañar. 2011

Abstract

Hospital Malnutrition: ELAN - Ecuador. Hospital "Homero Castanier Crespo" Azogues, Cañar Province. 2011. This study was performed in a non experimental cross method. The sample consisted of 150 patients aged over 18 years old with a hospital stay longer than 24 hours and the patient records review. The variables studied were: social and demographic data, clinical condition, surgical issues, nutritional status and quality of care. These information was collected based on two surveys which included: fist one a review of the patient´s history and a second one consisted in the evaluation of nutritional status by the Subjective Global Assessment Survey. Of the 150 atients studied, 52.7% were men and 47.3% women. The ages were between 18 and 94 years. Most of them were hospitalized in clinical service. Approximately 84 patients - corresponding to 56% - belonged to a popular and low stratum. The average length of hospital stay was 4 days. It was found 36% of malnutrition corresponding to the same 54 patients, 7.3% of those presented severe malnutrition. The quality of hospital care was rated as fair by 87 patients corresponding to the 58% of all. By linking variables, it was found that nutritional status is strongly associated with: age (P = 0.0026), with an average of 64 years old for severely malnourished patients. For nonmalnourished was shown on patient 57 years old with schooling (P = 0 0433).It was found that The 6% of malnutrition in patients with low levels of schooling, hospital days (P =0.0207), with an Average of 6.5 days for patients severely malnourished and 3.5 days for those not malnourished, With underlying disease (P = 0.0013). There was a 2% probability of finding malnourished patients with cardiovascular diseases. The study concluded that hospital malnutrition, found in the Hospital "Homer Castanier Crespo" at the Azogues city, was 36%. From these values the 7.3% were cataloged as severely malnourished patients. The main risk factors associated with malnutrition were: age, educational level, days of hospitalization and underlying disease. The quality of patient care in the hospital was rated as fair. In order to improve the quality of hospital care it is recommended to include appropriate practices to avoid further complications and higher costs.