AN AUDIT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PRE-OPERATIVE SURGICAL PATIENTS IN REHMAN MEDICAL INSTITUTE

Abstract

Introduction: The word Malnutrition is used for a broad spectrum of conditions ranging from under-nutrition to over-nutrition; it is a risk factor and health outcome for many diseases, increasing the risks of morbidity and mortality. The study was conducted to identify whether malnutrition exists in pre-operative surgical patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar.
Material & Methods: A prospective, cross sectional study was conducted on patients from all surgical specialties of Rehman Medical Institute from June to November 2016; total sample size taken was 221 using WHO formula and simple random sampling technique was used for sampling. All patients of ages 18 years and above from surgical departments were included; however, Gynecology patients, Intensive Care Units and patients with altered level of consciousness were excluded. The previously validated Mini Assessment Form was used to collect data, which were analyzed for descriptive statistics by SPSS version 15.0.
Results: Of 221 patients, 121(54%) were male and 100(45%) were female patients. Mean age of patients was 42.61±15.744 years, mean height was 164.3±14.20 cm, and mean weight was 74.6±15.90 kg. Overall 15 patients (6.8%) were identified as malnourished, 74 patients (33.5%) were at risk of malnutrition, while 132(59%) were having normal nutritional status.
Conclusion: Malnutrition is a relatively common problem in patients admitted to Rehman Medical Institute for surgical procedures. There is a need to develop a comprehensive strategy to identify patients with malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition at preoperative stage in order to achieve optimum results.