Nutritional Status of Cancer Patients upon Admission

Kim, Eun Kyung; Yang, Young Hee; Choi-Kwon, Smi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients and non-cancer patients who were admitted to an internal medical department and to determine the degree of malutrition among these patients. The study was performed from May to July 1996 with 151 subjects recruited from the general medical department at D University Hospital. For nutritional assessment the anthropometric and biochemical assessment were performed. Biochemical measurements included serum hemoglobin, albumin, and lymphocytes. For anthropometric assessment, patient's body weight, skinfold thickness in four areas, body mass index, and percent of body fat were measured. The results were as follows : 1) Of the 151 patients who were studied, 47 patients had cancer while 104 patients had non cancer related disease. The mean age of the cancer patients was 57 and 52 for non cancer patients. The percentage of patients who had lost body weight during the last 6 months was 29.8% in cancer patients and 15.4% in non cancer patients. This percentage difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant. However, there was no statistical significance between the 2 groups in gastrointestinal symptoms which lasted more then 2 weeks. 2) There was a statistically significant difference in nutritional status(lympocyte : p=.002 ; skinfold thickness in four areas : p<0.05) between the cancer and the non-cancer patients. The percentage of the patients who had the possibility of malnutrition was 65.5% in cancer patients and 6% in non-cancer patients. 3) There was correlation between the weight loss during the last 6 months before admission and body mass index and skinfold thickness.