Prevalence and clinical and para-clinical aspects of malnutrition in the medical-surgical care unit: A case series from Douala General Hospital in Cameroon

Abstract

Context and objective. Malnutrition is a factor of morbi-mortality in unit of resuscitation. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of undernutrition in an intensive care unit in Cameroon and to describe its clinical and Para clinical aspects. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Medical-Surgical Resuscitation Department of the Douala General Hospital, from March 1 to June 30, 2022. All patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit during this period were included. The data collected were clinical and paraclinical. The Student test assessed the correlation between variables for a significant p-value <0.05. Results. A total of 104 patients (50 women and 54 men) were included in the study. The average age was 49.2 ± 17.6 years. The patients came mainly from emergencies (n=50 or 48.1%) and had mainly medical pathologies (n=60 or 57.7 %). The prevalence of malnutrition was 82.7 %. The mortality rate in malnourished patients was 46.5 % (n=40/86). Mortality was not significantly associated with the nutritional status of patients (p=0.059; IC95 %: 0.007 – 0.359). Conclusion. The prevalence of undernutrition is high in intensive care. It was not related to the fate of patients. Received: May 15th, 2023 Accepted: April 18th, 2024 https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/aamed.v17i4.8