title: Effects of intensive nutrition education on nutritional status and quality of life among postgastrectomy patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the effects of 3 months of intensive education (IE) after hospital discharge compared to conventional education (CE) on nutritional status and quality of diet and life among South Korean gastrectomy patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted among 53 hospitalized gastrectomy in-patients (IE group, n = 28; CE group, n = 25) at Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong. Baseline data were collected from electronic medical records and additional information was gathered via anthropometric measurements, assessment of nutritional status through a patient-generated, subjective global assessment (PG-SGA), diet assessment, and measures of self-efficacy and satisfaction with meals for 3 months following hospital discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total PG-SGA scores were significantly higher in the CE group than in the IE group at 3-week post-discharge (5.2 in the IE group vs. 10.4 in the CE group, P < 0.001), with higher scores indicating a greater severity of malnutrition. Energy intake over the 3 months increased in both the IE group (from 1,390 to 1,726 kcal/day) and the CE group (from 1,227 to 1,540 kcal/day). At 3-week post-discharge, the IE group had significantly higher daily protein and fat intake (P < 0.05). Self-efficacy improved in each category (P < 0.001), except for 'difficulty eating adequate food'. When assessing satisfaction with meals, there was a difference in the 'satisfaction with the current meal size' (P < 0.001) and 'satisfaction with the menu content' (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nutritional status among gastrectomy patients in the IE group improved. Relative to the CE control, the IE group demonstrated improved self-efficacy and meal satisfaction 3-week post-discharge.
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Team, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Ok
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Sungshin Women's University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: So Ra
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Team, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Joo
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Sungshin Women's University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Nutrition, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, Korea.; Institute of Medical Nutrition, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunjung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lim
keywords: Gastrectomy; Nutrition assessment; Nutrition therapy; Nutritional status; Stomach neoplasms