title: PREDyCES study: The cost of hospital malnutrition in Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to analyze the economic effects of hospital malnutrition and the cost of longer hospital stays according to the Prevalence of Hospital Malnutrition and Associated Costs in Spain (PREDyCES) study data.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a nested case-control study in a prospective cohort of patients (n = 114) who were at nutritional risk at admission and controls (n = 354) who were not at risk at admission. The total cost of hospital stay was the cost of the bed plus the cost of drugs administered during the stay. Hospital costs were extrapolated to Spanish National Health System admissions for 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean hospital length of stay for patients at risk (cases) was significantly longer (11.5 ± 7.5 versus 8.5 ± 5.8 d; P < 0.001) than for the controls. The cost of patients at risk at admission was significantly higher than that of those not at risk (€8590 ± €6127 versus €7085 ± €5625; P = 0.015). The most significant difference in the cost of the hospital stay was observed between controls at nutritional risk at discharge and controls who remained not at risk throughout the hospital stay (€13 013 ± €9086 versus €6665 ± €5091; P < 0.001). Extrapolation of the study findings to Spanish National Health System hospital admissions showed that the potential cost of hospital malnutrition in Spain was at least €1.143 billion per year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hospital malnutrition in Spain is associated with substantial costs, suggesting the need to establish procedures for screening, diagnosing, and treating malnutrition.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mleon@h12o.es.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: León-Sanz
authors.affiliation: Oblikue Consulting, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brosa
authors.affiliation: Escola de Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Vic, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Planas
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario La Paz/IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Abelardo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-de-Lorenzo
authors.affiliation: Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Celaya-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Julia Álvarez
authors.initials: JÁ
authors.lastname: Hernández
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006760:Hospitalization; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000191:economics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013030:Spain
keywords: Cost of disease; Hospitalization; Malnutrition; Nutritional risk; PREDyCES; Spain