Primary Article

Incidence of Malnutrition Among Patients Admitted to a VA Hospital

Authors: J. PATRICK OLEARY MD, G. DEWEY DUNN MD, SANDRA BASIL MSN, RN, BETTYE BUTLER RD, MSPH, SANDRA LONG MSN, RN, ANITA NICHOLS MSN, RN, REBECCA WALLER RD, MS

Abstract

We studied 1,225 consecutive patients admitted to a large Veterans Administration Medical Center over an eight-week period to assess the degree of malnutrition. The parameters of malnutrition were visceral protein pool, lymphocyte count, delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity, and anthropometric measurements. More than one third of the patients had one or more abnormalities. Malnutrition is a ubiquitous but unrecognized disease in patients admitted to the hospital.

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