Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Undernutrition risk and outcomes in hospitalized dogs
By Molina, Jenifer et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2018·Hospital Clí, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of the Prevalence and Risk Factors for Undernutrition in Hospitalized Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of hospitalized dogs was found to be at risk for undernutrition, which can affect their recovery. Many of these dogs consumed less than a quarter of the energy they needed, and those who were older or had vomiting when they were admitted were more likely to lose weight and body condition during their stay. The study highlighted that dogs who ate enough and had a better initial body condition were less likely to face serious outcomes, including death. This suggests that ensuring hospitalized dogs receive adequate nutrition is crucial for their health and recovery.
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Abstract
Hospitalized dogs are predisposed to undernutrition, which can potentially affect outcome. This study evaluated the prevalence of undernutrition in hospitalized dogs (measured as loss of body condition score, BCS and body weight, BW) and studied the risk factors that affect nutritional status, and outcome (discharge or death). Data was collected prospectively during 9 months from 500 hospitalized dogs with a hospitalization length longer than 24 h in a veterinary teaching hospital in Spain. The BCS and BW changes were modeled using multiple linear regression and outcome was modeled using logistic regression. The risk factors studied were energy intake, hospitalization length, initial BW and BCS, age, sex, severity of clinical signs, department of admission, fasting or nutritional interventions, and the presence of anorexia, vomiting or diarrhea at admission. Most of the dogs (84.0%) consumed less than 25% of their energy requirements and only 3.4% of the dogs met these requirements. The majority of hospitalized dogs maintained their BCS (78.2%) and BW (77%) during hospitalization. Older patients (= 0.040), higher initial BCS (< 0.001), and vomiting at admission (= 0.030) were associated with a decrease of BCS status during hospitalization. BCS was also decreased in patients with low energy intake, particularly in patients with hospitalization length longer than 3 days (< 0.001). Both longer hospitalization length (< 0.001) and vomiting at admission (= 0.004) were also associated with a decrease in BW. Dogs that consumed their theoretical energy requirements [< 0.001; Odds Ratio (OR) 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92 to 0.98], and had a higher initial BCS (< 0.001; OR 0.39, 95% CI: 0.22 to 0.63) had a lower odds of dying. Anorexia at admission (< 0.001; OR 5.67, 95% CI: 2.23 to 15.47) was associated with a higher risk of death. The results from this study support the finding that undernutrition is relatively common during hospitalization, with age, hospitalization length, decreased energy intake, and vomiting at admission as risk factors for undernutrition. Furthermore, an association was found between inadequate energy intake and death.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30211177/