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Multicenter Study
. 2022 Dec 6;19(23):16333.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192316333.

Clinical Nutrition in Portuguese Gastroenterology Departments: A Multicentric Study

Francisco Vara-Luiz  1   2 , Luísa Glória  3 , Irina Mocanu  1 , António Curado  4 , Isabel Medeiros  5 , Maria Antónia Duarte  6 , António Banhudo  7 , Susana Ferreira  8 , Ana Margarida Vaz  9 , Isabel Bastos  10 , Jorge Fonseca  1   2
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Clinical Nutrition in Portuguese Gastroenterology Departments: A Multicentric Study

Francisco Vara-Luiz et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Hospital nutrition is a major public health problem, as up to 50% of hospitalized patients suffer from undernutrition. Adequate nutritional support (NS) decreases morbidity/mortality, shortens the length of stay, and reduces costs. We aimed to evaluate the engagement of Portuguese gastroenterology departments in NS, especially in artificial nutrition (AN).

Methods: Cross-sectional multicentric study, using an online survey sent to 31 Portuguese gastroenterology departments.

Results: Nine centers were involved, and all departments were engaged in NS activities. The most performed nutrition technique was endoscopic gastrostomy and not all departments had the expertise to perform all nutrition procedures, namely, endoscopic jejunostomy. Two departments had an AN outpatient clinic. Five centers were involved in hospital nutrition committees. Only four performed systematic nutritional evaluation of every patient on admission. Two departments developed research in the nutrition field. An increase staff and nutrition training were pointed out as suggestions to improve NS.

Conclusions: This study outlines a broad picture of NS/AN in Portuguese gastroenterology departments. Medical nutritional training and increasing nutrition teams' staff may contribute to developing NS/AN. Multidisciplinary management of nutrition-related disorders is of utmost importance, and gastroenterologists are expected to be at the core of hospital nutrition.

Keywords: gastroenterology; nutrition; nutrition techniques; training.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Nutrition-related courses by number of departments.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Linear correlation between number of doctors and expertise in nutrition techniques. Black dots refer to data from each involved center (n = 9).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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