Changes in the Nutritional Condition of Hospitalized Adult Patients

Abstract

Hospitalized cancer patients that are treated with chemotherapy often suffer from nutritional problems called hos- pital malnutrition. In order to assess the nutritional condition in patients who were admitted to Ashiya Municipal Hospital for cancer chemotherapy, we collected the laboratory data and questionnaires asking for changes in the taste and preference for foods. These hospitalized cancer patients, irrespective of the organs affected, were shown to have low total protein (TP) and hemoglobin (Hb) values at admission, during hospitalization, and on discharge. Questionnaires told that 67 % of the cancer patients developed changes in sense of taste and preference for foods after chemotherapy. These findings suggest that nutritional assessment during hospitalization and a nutrition control system administered by a nutrition support team designed for each patient are necessary.