Nearly half of patients with IBD in China diagnosed with malnutrition, nutrient deficits
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Malnutrition was found to be highly prevalent in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and was also found to be associated with adverse sociopsychological status, according to data published in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
“To date, the prevalence of malnutrition, characteristics associated with malnutrition and the use of nutrition support have been seldom investigated among IBD patients in Asia,” Jing Liu, MD, of the department of gastroenterology and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Zhejiang University College of Medicine in China, and colleagues wrote. “Malnutrition has adverse sociopsychological impacts on patients with IBD, including anxiety and depression.”
“The association between malnutrition and psychological wellbeing has rarely been assessed among IBD patients in Asia on a large scale,” the researchers added. “The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and the use of nutrition support among patients with IBD from tertiary referral hospitals in China.”
Liu and colleagues recruited 1,013 patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease to participate in a cross-sectional, observational study. Of those enrolled, 593 patients (58.5%) were diagnosed with CD, and 622 (61.4%) were men; the median age of participants was 35 years. Researchers evaluated patients for malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies, and participants completed four questionnaires to assess sociopsychological status.
According to study results, 501 patients (49.5%) were diagnosed with malnutrition, including 57% with CD and 38.8% with UC. Among patients with quiescent or mildly active disease, 44.1% were found to be malnourished, compared with 58.2% of patients with moderate to severe disease. Nutrient deficiencies also were noted among those not diagnosed with malnutrition. Within the cohort, 41.6% of patients received nutrition support, and those with malnutrition, moderate to severe disease and extensive disease were more likely to receive support.
Researchers also determined that malnutrition was associated with adverse sociopsychological status, such as decreased social support, higher perceived stress and impaired quality of life.
“This was the first study to report the prevalence of and risk factors for malnutrition, as well as the use of nutrition support in Chinese patients with IBD,” Liu and colleagues noted. “We showed that malnutrition was highly prevalent. In addition, nutrient deficiencies and adverse sociopsychological status were present even among patients without malnutrition. We also found that malnutrition was associated with the worsening of these adverse events.”
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