Impact of calorie intake and refeeding syndrome on the length of hospital stay of patients with malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS
The decrease of nutritional status has affected one-third hospitalized patients, while there is no widely used definition of malnutrition. Refeeding syndrome is a severe complication of refeeding in people with malnutrition, it includes a series of electrolyte disorders and clinical symptoms. Further research is warranted to determine whether refeeding syndrome prolongs the length of stay, and to verify the effect of different energy intakes during refeeding on the length of stay in people with malnutrition. Our review aimed to explore the effects of refeeding syndrome and initial calorie intake on the length of stay in patients with malnutrition. This study aids the understanding of clinical nutrition strategies to prevent and treat refeeding syndrome.
METHODS
PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Knowledge, and two Chinese databases were systematically searched until October 2021. Controlled studies of patients' refeeding process with the outcome of length of stay were included. Effect sizes were expressed as 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and calculated using random-effects models.
RESULTS
Eighteen studies involving 3868 participants were included in our review. The pooled length of stay of 2965 patients with refeeding syndrome in 11 studies was 25.55 (95% CI, 20.20-30.90) days. The pooled impact of refeeding syndrome on length of stay of 2634 patients in 10 studies was weighted mean difference (WMD) = 2.91 (95% CI, -0.18 - 6.00; P = 0.065) days. The…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 3,868 participants or records.
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