title: Addressing Disease-Related Malnutrition in Healthcare: A Latin American Perspective.
abstract: Alarmingly high rates of disease-related malnutrition have persisted in hospitals of both emerging and industrialized nations over the past 2 decades, despite marked advances in medical care over this same interval. In Latin American hospitals, the numbers are particularly striking; disease-related malnutrition has been reported in nearly 50% of adult patients in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Uruguay. The tolls of disease-related malnutrition are high in both human and financial terms-increased infectious complications, higher incidence of pressure ulcers, longer hospital stays, more frequent readmissions, greater costs of care, and increased risk of death. In an effort to draw attention to malnutrition in Latin American healthcare, a feedM.E. Latin American Study Group was formed to extend the reach and support the educational efforts of the feedM.E. Global Study Group. In this article, the feedM.E. Latin American Study Group shows that malnutrition incurs excessive costs to the healthcare systems, and the study group also presents evidence of how appropriate nutrition care can improve patients' clinical outcomes and lower healthcare costs. To achieve the benefits of nutrition for health throughout Latin America, the article presents feedM.E.'s simple and effective Nutrition Care Pathway in English and Spanish as a way to facilitate its use.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal, de Minas Gerais, Brazil isabel_correia@uol.com.br.
authors.forename: Maria Isabel
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: Abbott Nutrition Research and Development, Columbus, Ohio.
authors.forename: Refaat A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hegazi
authors.affiliation: General Surgery and Clinical Nutrition Department, Hospital Ángeles Lomas & Anáhuac University, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: José Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Diaz-Pizarro Graf
authors.affiliation: Abbott Nutrition, Bogotā, Colombia.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gomez-Morales
authors.affiliation: Hospital Clínico Fuerza Aérea de Chile, Gral. Dr Raúl Yazigi, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Catalina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fuentes Gutiérrez
authors.affiliation: Hospital Italiano Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Maria Fernanda
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Goldin
authors.affiliation: Cliníca Reina Sofía, Bogotā, Colombia.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navas
authors.affiliation: Universidad del Rosario-Méderi, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Olga Lucia
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Pinzón Espitia
authors.affiliation: Centro Integrado de Atenção à Saúde, Vitória, Espirito Santo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilmária Millere
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Tavares
mesh_terms: D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015994:Incidence; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D044623:Nutrition Therapy; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
keywords: assessment; community; hospital; malnutrition; nutrition; oral nutrition supplement; screening