Update on use of enteral and parenteral nutrition in hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of malnutrition in the United States

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition continues to be associated with outcomes in hospitalized patients.

Methods: An updated review of national data in patients with a coded diagnosis of malnutrition (CDM) and the use of nutrition support (enteral nutrition [EN] and parenteral nutrition [PN]) was conducted using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and Medicare Claims data.

Results: Results demonstrated a growing trend in CDM accompanied by continued low utilization of PN and EN.

Conclusion: Underutilization of nutrition support may be due to product shortages, reluctance of clinicians to use these therapies, undercoding of nutrition support, strict adherence to published guidelines, and other factors.

Keywords: International Classification of Diseases; clinical coding; enteral nutrition; hospitalization; malnutrition; nutrition assessment; parenteral nutrition.