scholarly journals Evaluation of Nutritional Status, Food Intake and Costs of Food Waste in Hospitalized Patients, Considering Relevant Causes and Finding Possible Solutions: Protocol of a Mixed-Method Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Razieh ‎ Anari ◽  
◽  
Maryam Amini‎ ◽  
Bahareh‎ Nikooyeh ◽  
Delaram‎ Ghodsi ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Amini ◽  
Bahareh Nikooyeh ◽  
Delaram Ghodsi ◽  
Parisa Torabi ◽  
Tirang Reza Neyestani

BACKGROUND Hospitalization may seriously affect patients’ nutritional status and may ‎occasionally be accompanied by malnutrition development or aggravation. Food intake is ‎often altered during hospitalization, which is tightly connected to malnutrition. On the other ‎hand, a huge amount of plate food wasted by patients, in addition to its health consequences, ‎has enormous economic and environmental expenses for governments and societies. OBJECTIVE This ‎investigation aims firstly to assess the nutritional status of the patients hospitalized in general ‎wards and secondly to evaluate the quantity and financial burden of patients’ food waste ‎along with its possible nutritional outcomes.‎ METHODS A mixed-method study is performed in three general hospitals in Tehran. Adult ‎inpatients with eligibility criteria are recruited to the study from medical and surgical ‎wards. Anthropometric and demographic data are collected and energy and protein intakes ‎are extracted from a 24-hour food recall. Plate food wastes of eligible patients are weighed ‎in breakfast, lunch, and snacks during one day. Then, the economic cost of food waste is ‎calculated for each meal, patient, and ward. Nutritional status is determined through the ‎following methods: 1. Subjective criteria (Mini Nutritional Assessment and Subjective ‎Global Assessment tools) for malnutrition; 2. Measuring serum albumin, pre-albumin and ‎total protein for protein status; 3. Measuring serum retinol and 25-hydroxycalciferol assay ‎to assess certain micronutrient status (vitamins A and D); and 4. Examination of serum β-‎carotene, total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde, and highly sensitive C-reactive ‎protein to determine oxidative stress and inflammatory status. Also, a qualitative study is ‎conducted to evaluate the possible reasons for wasting food in these hospitals.‎ RESULTS ----- CONCLUSIONS This study will provide appropriate data regarding the health and economic burden ‎of food waste in studied hospitals. These data are especially useful to healthcare authorities ‎and policymakers for planning efficient solutions to decrease food waste and to improve ‎patients' nutritional status. ‎


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sieske ◽  
Janssen ◽  
Babel ◽  
Westhoff ◽  
Wirth ◽  
...  

The effect of inflammation on appetite and food intake has been rarely studied in humans. In this study, we examined the association of C-reactive protein (CRP), as an inflammatory marker, with appetite and food intake among older hospitalized patients. A total of 200 older individuals, who were consecutively admitted to a geriatric acute care ward, participated in this prospective observational study. Appetite was evaluated using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ), respectively. Food intake was measured according to plate diagram method and participants were categorized as having food intake <75% and ≥75% of meals served. Nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF). In addition, serum CRP was analyzed and the levels >3.0 (mg/dL) were considered as moderate to severe inflammation. Of total population with mean age 81.4 ± 6.6 years (62.5% females), 51 (25.5%) had no inflammation and 88 (44.0%) and 61 (30.5%) had mild and moderate to severe inflammation, respectively. According to MNA-SF, 9.0% and 60.0% had normal nutritional status or a risk of malnutrition, respectively, whereas 31.0% were malnourished. Based on the SNAQ-appetite-question, 32.5% of the patients demonstrated poor and very poor appetite whereas 23.5% reported severe loss of appetite according to ESAS. Ninety-five (48.0%) of the participants had food intake <75% of the meals offered. Significant associations between SNAQ-appetite (p = 0.003) and ESAS-appetite (p = 0.013) scores and CRP levels were observed. In addition, significant differences were observed in CRP levels between intake ≥75% and <75% of meals served (p < 0.001). Furthermore, there were significant associations between appetite and nutritional status whereas malnourished older patients demonstrated a decreased appetite compared to those with normal nutritional status (p = 0.011). In a regression analysis, inflammation was the major independent risk factor for patients’ appetite (p = 0.003) and food intake (p = 0.011) whereas other variables such as infection (p = 0.960), chronic inflammatory diseases (p = 0.371), age (p = 0.679) and gender (p = 0.447) do not show any impact on appetite. Our findings confirm that poor appetite and low food intake are associated with inflammation in older hospitalized patients, suggesting that inflammation may contribute an important aspect to the development of malnutrition in these patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Razieh Anari ◽  
Maryam Amini ◽  
Bahareh Nikooyeh ◽  
Delaralm Ghodsi ◽  
Parisa Torabi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Hospitalization may seriously affect patients’ nutritional status and may occasionally be accompanied by malnutrition development or aggravation. Food intake is often altered during hospitalization, which is tightly connected to malnutrition. On the other hand, a huge amount of plate food wasted by patients, in addition to its health consequences, has enormous economic and environmental expenses for governments and societies. This investigation aims firstly to assess nutritional status of the patients hospitalized in general wards and secondly to evaluate the quantity and financial burden of patients’ food waste along with its possible nutritional outcomes.Methods: A cross-sectional study is performed on 171 adult inpatients with eligibility criteria from medical and surgical wards of three general hospitals in Tehran. Nutritional status of patients is evaluated through the following methods: 1. Assessment of malnutrition using subjective criteria (Mini Nutritional Assessment and Subjective Global Assessment tools); 2. Assessment of protein status using determination of serum albumin, pre-albumin and total protein; and 3. Assessment of certain micronutrient status notably vitamins A and D using serum retinol and 25-hydroxycalciferol assay. Also, oxidative stress and inflammatory status are evaluated using examination of serum β-carotene, total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde and highly sensitive C-reactive protein. Anthropometric and demographic data are collected and energy and protein intakes are extracted from a 24-hour food recall. Plate food wastes for selected patients are weighed in breakfast, lunch and snacks for one day. Then, economic cost of food waste is calculated for each meal, patient and ward. Finally, the possible reasons for wasting food in these hospitals will be evaluated through conducting a qualitative study.Discussion: Findings of this study will provide appropriate data regarding health and economic burden of food waste in studied hospitals. These data are especially useful to healthcare authorities and policy makers for planning efficient solutions to decrease food waste and to improve patients' nutritional status.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Martinez Alpizar ◽  
Patricia Cabral ◽  
Mohena Moreno ◽  
Nouha H. Hallak ◽  
Luciana Lagana

2012 ◽  
Vol 74 (08/09) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Holmberg ◽  
G Sarganas ◽  
N Mittring ◽  
V Braun ◽  
L Dini ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Abu Yazid Abu Bakar ◽  
Dayang Nurfaezah Abang Ahmad ◽  
Melor Md Yunus

Research has shown that using graphic novels in the classroom is one of useful approaches to promote the understanding of learners especially for lengthy and difficult literature texts. This study reports the extent of graphic novel in facilitating students’ understanding of literature and the students’ perceptions towards using graphic novel in learning literature (L2) as compared to other genre of texts. This is a mixed method study which employs quantitative and qualitative methods to obtain data. The findings indicate that most students found that graphic novel helped them to enrich their vocabularies and understand the text better. The findings also reveal that students were attracted to the illustrations in the literature text in which this helps to boost their motivation to learn literature in the classroom. The findings provide useful insights for English as Second Language (ESL) teachers in incorporating and expanding the literature learning through graphic novels in the future. The findings also imply the need of ESL teachers to use graphic novels effectively in facilitating their teaching and learning of literature in L2 classrooms particularly to suit the 21<sup>st</sup> century teaching and learning.


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