Malnutrition diagnoses and associated outcomes in hospitalized patients: United States, 2018.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2021

Identifier

DOI: 10.1002/ncp.10771

Abstract

In the US, malnutrition is prevalent among hospitalized patients and is associated with higher morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs when compared with those without malnutrition. Over time, national data have indicated the rate of coded malnutrition diagnoses among hospital discharges rising over time, and more current data on demographic and clinical characteristics of these patients are needed. Data on malnutrition discharges from the 2018 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)-the most recent nationally representative data-were examined and compared with earlier HCUP findings. Based on International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes, 8.9% of all US non-maternal, non-neonatal hospital discharges in 2018 had a coded diagnosis of malnutrition (CDM). From this 2018 data, those with a CDM were older, had longer lengths of stay, and incurred higher costs, as compared with those without a CDM. Higher readmission rates and higher inpatient mortality were also observed in this group. These findings provide more recent demographic and clinical evidence for standardized malnutrition diagnostic and interventional programs to treat and/or prevent this condition.

Journal Title

Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition

Volume

36

Issue

5

First Page

957

Last Page

969

MeSH Keywords

Health Care Costs; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Humans; Length of Stay; Malnutrition; Patient Discharge; United States

Keywords

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project; coded malnutrition diagnosis; costs; hospitalized patients; malnutrition; patient outcomes

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