Objective: We assessed nutrition status and prevalence of malnutrition in hospital patients as determined by the Subjective Global Assessment Form, awareness of patients' nutrition status by health teams, and the use of nutrition therapy.
Methods: We enrolled 4000 hospital patients at least 18 y old who were covered by the Brazilian public health care system in a cross-sectional, multicenter epidemiologic study. We used Student's t and chi-square tests for univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses.
Results: Malnutrition was present in 48.1% of patients and severe malnutrition was present in 12.5% of patients. The prevalence of malnutrition was higher in the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil, where per-capita income is lower. Malnutrition correlated with primary diagnosis at admission, age (60 y), presence of cancer or infection, and longer hospital stay (P < 0.05). Fewer than 18.8% of patients' records contained information on nutrition-related issues. Nutrition therapy was used in 7.3% of patients (6.1% enteral nutrition and 1.2% parenteral nutrition).
Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized patients in Brazil is high, physician awareness of malnutrition is low, and nutrition therapy is underprescribed.