title: Prevalence of malnutrition in various political, economic, and geographic settings.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) represents a critical public health concern. Therefore, Fight Against Malnutrition (FAM) should be a state priority, but the degree to which this is true appears to differ considerably among European countries. The aim of this study was to put the problem into perspective by comparing the prevalence of malnutrition in countries from opposite parts of the continent.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six countries-Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, and Turkey-participated in the study. A short questionnaire was used to assess DRM: its prevalence, the current situation in hospitals, regulations for reimbursement, and general healthcare circumstances. Data from ESPEN's NutritionDay 2006 were used to broaden the perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At admission in October 2012, 4068 patients were assessed. The study was performed in 160 hospitals and 225 units with 9143 beds. The highest proportions of patients with 3 or more points on the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 were observed in Estonia (80.4%) and Turkey (39.4%), whereas the lowest were in Lithuania (14.2%). The provision of nutrition support was best in Turkey (39.4% required intervention, 34.4% received intervention) and Poland (21.9% and 27.8%, respectively). Nutrition support teams (NSTs) are active in some countries, whereas in others they virtually do not exist.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of malnutrition was quite high in some countries, and the nutrition approach differed among them. It could be the result of the lack of reimbursement, inactive or nonexistent NSTs, and low nutrition awareness. Those facts confirmed that the continuation of FAM activities is necessary.
authors.affiliation: General Surgery Unit, Stanley Dudrick's Memorial Hospital, Skawina, Poland klek@poczta.onet.pl.
authors.forename: Stanislaw
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klek
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Zeljko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Krznaric
authors.affiliation: General Surgery and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Atatürk Teaching and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Riza Haldun
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Gundogdu
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chourdakis
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University Hospital Clinic of Anaesthesia and ICU, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Gintautas
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kekstas
authors.affiliation: Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Triin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jakobson
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Lublin Regional Cancer Centre, and Department of Surgery and Surgical Nursing, Medical University, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paluszkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Nutrition, University Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Darija
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vranesic Bender
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Ege University Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uyar
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Ege University Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kubilay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Demirag
authors.affiliation: Laiko Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Kalliopi Anna
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Poulia
authors.affiliation: Vilnius University Hospital Clinic of Anaesthesia and ICU, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Andrius
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klimasauskas
authors.affiliation: Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Starkopf
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011057:Politics; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Fight Against Malnutrition; disease-related malnutrition; malnutrition