title: Hospital Patients Are Not Eating Their Full Meal: Results of the Canadian 2010-2011 nutritionDay Survey.
abstract: nutritionDay is a 1-day cross-sectional survey identifying how nutrition care is provided. This paper provides results of the first 2 Canadian nutritionDay surveys. In November 2010 and 2011, data from standardized questionnaires were collected from 193 units in Canadian hospitals consisting of unit demographics and patient information including weight history, health status, nutrition assessment, nutrition therapy, food intake and 30-day outcomes. Results indicated that overall, 46% of the 1905 patients reported weight loss in the previous 3 months, and in half of these it was greater than 5 kg. Only 50% of the units had nutrition teams and nutrition therapy was provided to less than 14% of patients. More than 50% of patients ate less than normal in the previous week and 57% ate less than half of their meal on nutritionDay. Within the next 30 days the majority of patients went home, 10% remained in hospital, and 6% were readmitted. In this study, nutritionDay provided relevant information on nutrition assessment, weight history, food intake, nutrition therapy, length of stay, and outcomes in participating Canadian institutions. Data from 2010 and 2011 can help to both reflect on current practices and define continuous improvements through benchmarking with the overall goal of mitigating suboptimal nutrition intake during hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Adult Medicine and Complex Care, Saskatoon Health Region, SK.
authors.forename: Luiza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kent-Smith
authors.affiliation: b Professional Practice Development, Dietitians of Canada, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eisenbraun
authors.affiliation: c Medical Scientific Regulatory Unit, Nestlé Health Science, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wile
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007297:Inpatients; D007902:Length of Stay; D062407:Meals; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D044623:Nutrition Therapy; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult