Table 3.
Causes of malnutrition and nutritional risk.
| n | No Malnutrition | Malnutrition * | p-Value | n | No Nutritional Risk | Nutritional Risk ** | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 108 | n = 66 | n = 42 | 98 | n = 15 | n = 83 | ||
| Age (years) | 108 | 59.0 (15.6) | 66.1 (15.3) | 0.04 | 50.1 (15.9) | 62.7 (14.9) | <0.01 | |
| Food intake | 103 | 0.06 | 83 | 0.59 | ||||
| < 50% | 30 (47.6) | 28 (70.0) | 7 (46.7) | 46 (59.0) | ||||
| 50–75% | 17 (27.0) | 8 (20.0) | 4 (26.7) | 18 (23.1) | ||||
| > 75% | 16 (25.4) | 4 (10.0) | 4 (26.7) | 14 (17.9) | ||||
| Inflammation biomarkers | ||||||||
| Ferritin (µg/L) | 95 | 861 ± 849 | 1429 ± 3221 | 0.38 | 92 | 538 ± 460 | 1191 ± 2244 | 0.11 |
| Orosomucoid (g/L) | 52 | 1.8 ± 0.6 | 1.9 ± 0.6 | 0.84 | 48 | 1.3 ± 0.5 | 2.0 ± 0.6 | <0.01 |
| Fibrinogen (g/L) | 103 | 5.1 ± 1.7 | 5.4 ± 1.3 | 0.30 | 94 | 3.8 ± 1.4 | 5.5 ± 1.5 | <0.01 |
| C-reactive protein (mg/L) | 108 | 75 ± 88 | 82 ± 79 | 0.30 | 98 | 17 ± 24 | 90 ± 90 | <0.01 |
| Procalcitonin (µg/L) | 105 | 0.5 ± 2.9 | 1.0 ± 2.8 | 0.14 | 97 | 0.1 ± 0.1 | 0.9 ± 3.3 | <0.01 |
| Interleukine 6 (pg/mL) | 43 | 61 ± 81 | 68 ± 57 | 0.35 | 43 | 72 ± 135 | 63 ± 61 | 0.22 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase (U/L) | 42 | 397 ± 245 | 352 ± 211 | 0.40 | 37 | 512 ± 475 | 363 ± 172 | 0.46 |
| Symptoms | ||||||||
| Respiratory | 108 | 53 (80.3) | 32 (76.2) | 0.61 | 98 | 13 (86.7) | 66 (79.5) | 0.73 |
| Diarrhea | 107 | 11 (16.9) | 8 (19.0) | 0.78 | 97 | 5 (33.3) | 13 (15.9) | 0.15 |
| Nausea/vomiting | 108 | 8 (12.1) | 8 (19.0) | 0.32 | 98 | 3 (20.0) | 13 (15.7) | 0.71 |
| Neurology (except headache) | 108 | 10 (15.2) | 3 (7.1) | 0.21 | 98 | 3 (20.0) | 7 (8.4) | 0.18 |
| Olfactory/gustatory dysfunction | 107 | 8 (12.1) | 5 (12.2) | >0.99 | 97 | 1 (6.7) | 12 (14.6) | 0.68 |
| Background | ||||||||
| Chronic kidney failure | 108 | 2 (3.1) | 2 (4.9) | 0.64 | 98 | 0 (0.0) | 3 (3.6) | >0.99 |
| Cancer | 108 | 4 (6.1) | 5 (11.9) | 0.31 | 98 | 0 (0.0) | 8 (9.6) | 0.21 |
Continuous variables are expressed as mean ± standard deviation and categorical variables as the number of patients (percentage). N: number of available data. * Malnutrition was defined as body mass index < 18.5 kg/m2 (or < 21 kg/m2 if age was ≥ 70 years), weight loss ≥ 5% in one month, and/or weight loss ≥ 10% in six months. ** Nutritional risk was defined as nutritional risk index (1.519 × albumin (g/L) + 0.417 × (measured weight/usual weight) × 100) < 97.5.