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Objective: To assess the prevalence of undernourishment, nutritional status, and clinical outcomes among patients with heart failure admitted to Bangkok Heart Hospital using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF).
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional retrospective study enrolled 361 patients hospitalized with heart failure in Bangkok Heart Hospital between January 2019 and December 2022. The MNA-SF was used as a screening scale to assess nutritional status. Clinical outcomes included length of stay, hospital-acquired infections, in-hospital mortality, unscheduled 30-day hospital readmission, and all-cause mortality within 180 days post-discharge.
Results: The study included 239 hospitalized patients with a median age of 80 years (interquartile range, IQR: 72.0-80.0); among them, there were 128 men. Most patients experienced heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The prevalence of undernutrition was 61.1%, with a median length of stay of 8 days (IQR: 5.0–15.0). The median length of stay of the well-nourished patients (6 days, IQR: 4.0-11.5) was significantly lower than that of the undernourished patients (9 days, IQR: 6.0–15.0; p-value<0.01). In addition, the hospital-acquired infection rate was significantly higher in undernourished patients (43.8% and 16.1%; p-value<0.01). The unscheduled 30-day hospital readmission rate and mortality rate within 6 months post-discharge were significantly higher among undernourished patients than among well-nourished patients.
Conclusion: Undernutrition resulted in worse clinical outcomes, including prolonged hospital stay, hospital-acquired infections, unscheduled 30-day readmission, and a high mortality rate within 6 months post-discharge.