Structural, demographic, clinical and nutritional characteristics of intensive care units in Colombia: nutritionDay 2021

Abstract

Introduction: since 2006, the nutrition-Day survey, led by the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the University of Vienna, has made it possible to evaluate nutritional practices in patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and general wards. In this article, we analyze the structure of ICUs and examine the clinical and nutritional characteristics of critically ill patients in Colombia.

Method: Observational cross-sectional study involving 13 ICUs and 183 patients who participated in nutritionDay 2021. A descriptive analysis of structural and demographic, clinical and nutritional variables of the patients was carried out using the statistical software Stata.

Results: 84.6% of the ICUs were polyvalent, and cardiac (27.3%) and neurological (18.8%) pathologies were the most frequent. The mean age was 61.5 years, 56.9% were male and the average weight was 66 kg. 69.2% of the institutions had a nutrition unit, 100% had professionals in Nutrition and Dietetics, and 92.3% had written nutritional care procedures. Regarding nutritional practices, 92.3% of the ICUs evaluated nutritional status using laboratory parameters and 76.9% with weight/height. Enteral nutrition was used more frequently (33.5%) compared to parenteral nutrition (8.1%), with an average duration of around 4 days. The average length of stay was 11 days in the ICU and 22.5 days in the hospital.

Conclusions: This study identified weaknesses in the structure and implementation of nutrition protocols in ICUs. This highlights the need to promote appropriate practices for nutritional intervention in critically ill patients, which could positively impact health outcomes and efficiency of healthcare cost in the future.