Prevalence of Malnutrition in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis in A Tertiary Care Hospital

Authors

  • Dibas Khadka Department of Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Binod Karki Department of Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Suresh Thapa Department of Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Ajit Khanal Department of Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Ramila Shrestha Department of Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Shital Bhandary School of Public Health, Patan Academy of Medical Sciences, Lalitpur, Nepal
  • Bidhan Nidhi Paudel Department of Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.4533

Keywords:

cirrhosis; malnutrition; nutritional assessment.

Abstract

Introduction: Cirrhosis of liver is a progressively deteriorating disease. Medical management consist of treatment and prevention of complications. Nutritional intervention to improve nutritional status of the malnourished patient has favorable impact on prognosis. Traditional measures of nutritional assessment like Body Mass Index and waist circumference are inaccurate. This study was conducted to study the prevalence of malnutrition in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at National Academy of Medical Sciences, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. The study included 60 cirrhotic patients from outpatient department. Subjective Global Assessment was performed for all participants and level of malnutrition recorded. Height, weight, waist circumference, body mass index were measured and recorded.

Results: Among the cirrhotic patients, malnutrition was detected in 46 (76.66%) [68.38 to 85.94 at Confidence Interval 95%]. Out of 46 patients who were malnourished, 20 (43.47%) had mild to moderate malnutrition whereas 26 (56.53%) had severe malnutrition. The most common cause of cirrhosis was alcohol. The mean body mass index and mean waist circumference were within normal limits.

Conclusions: Malnutrition is very common among cirrhotic patients and its prevalence increased from Child A to Child C status.

 

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Published

2019-08-31

How to Cite

Khadka, D., Karki, B., Thapa, S., Khanal, A., Shrestha, R., Bhandary, S., & Paudel, B. N. (2019). Prevalence of Malnutrition in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis in A Tertiary Care Hospital. Journal of Nepal Medical Association, 57(218). https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.4533

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Section

Original Article

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