H Open. 2019 Nov 14;4(3):454-460. doi: 10.1002/jgh3.12278. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Jessica Pulley ¹, Alwyn Todd ^1 2 3, Christopher Flatley ³, Jakob Begun ^3 4 5

Author information

¹Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Mater Health Services Brisbane Queensland Australia.

²Menzies Health Institute Griffith University Gold Coast Queensland Australia.

³Mater Research Institute The University of Queensland Brisbane Queensland Australia.

⁴Department of Gastroenterology Mater Health Services Brisbane Queensland Australia.

⁵Translational Research Institute Brisbane Queensland Australia.

Free PMC article

Abstract

Background and aim: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic inflammatory conditions of the gut resulting in a significant risk for malnutrition. The reported prevalence of malnutrition in inflammatory disease patients varies from 5.7 to 82.8%. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of malnutrition and its association with quality of life (QOL) in a cohort of Australian IBD outpatients.

Methods: A total of 107 consecutive patients (68 Crohn's disease, 35 ulcerative colitis, 4 indeterminate colitis) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Demographic data were collected, and patients underwent a malnutrition assessment using the patient-generated subjective global assessment. The RAND 36-item health survey was used to measure QOL.

Results: Mild to moderate malnutrition was detected in 17 patients (16%). Malnourished patients were more likely to be underweight (P ≤ 0.01), have active disease (P ≤ 0.01), and have been admitted to hospital in the preceding 12 months (P ≤ 0.05). Malnourished patients had a significantly lower QOL in physical (P ≤ 0.01) and mental (P ≤ 0.01) health components. Patients with active or recently active disease had reduced QOL compared to patients in remission. Malnutrition factors predictive of poor physical health-related QOL were pain (odds ratio [OR] = 12.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.0-80.4) and unintentional weight loss (OR = 3.1 per kg lost, 95% CI 1.2-7.9). The predictor of poor mental health-related QOL was early satiety (OR = 7.7, 95% CI 1.7-33.9).

Conclusions: The malnutrition prevalence for this population was 16%. Malnutrition was associated with being underweight, active disease, and increased number of hospital admissions. Disease activity and malnutrition were associated with poorer QOL.