Body Composition in 995 Acutely ill or Chronically ill Patients at Hospital Admission: A controlled population Study
Section snippets
Patients
All adult patients admitted to the hospital admission center (which serves to admit both critically ill and noncritically ill patients) for medical or surgical reasons and subsequently hospitalized were eligible for inclusion. Every tenth patient was included in the study during a 3-month period. Included were 995 patients; 2 patients refused to participate in the study. Excluded were 35 patients with edema, burns, or treated with peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis, and 26 patients with
Results
The anthropometric and bioelectrical impedance characteristics of the controls and acutely ill and chronically ill patients are shown in Table 1 (men) and Table 2 (women). The number of acutely ill subjects was highest in the youngest age group and lowest in the oldest age group, compared with the lowest number of chronically ill subjects in the youngest age group. Height was minimally different between controls and patients and was lower in older age groups compared with younger age groups in
Discussion
The purpose of a nutritional assessment is to identify patients with depleted body tissues and increased risks for complications. This study evaluated fat-free mass and fat mass in acutely ill and chronically ill patients at hospital admission compared with age- and height-matched healthy controls and found lower fat-free mass in chronically ill patients and higher percentage fat mass in patients than controls. Furthermore, the study showed that BIA was more sensitive in determining the risk of
Applications
Weight and BMI do not evaluate the body compartments and therefore do not reveal if weight changes result in loss of fat-free mass or gain in fat mass. In spite of minimal differences in BMI between patients and controls, fat-free mass was lower and fat mass was higher in acutely ill and chronically ill patients than controls. The objective measurement of body composition, as part of a comprehensive nutritional assessment, helps to identify subjects who have low fat-free mass or high fat mass.
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