Hospital nutrition: dietary intake characteristics among adults with NCDs (Algeria, 2020)

Introduction: Hospital malnutrition is a common problem among non-communicable diseases' (NCDs) inpatients, and it is related to food intake characteristics. The aim of this study was to determine the current dietary intake characteristics of hospitalized adults with NCDs in Algeria. Methods: The study sample consisted of 105 inpatients. The dietary intake was evaluated using the 24 hours recall method, CIQUAL Table, 2016 was used for nutritional values and Subjective global assessment (SGA) for the nutritional status assessment. Results: The study design responds to a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of 105 inpatients. The malnutrition percentage was 44.76% (B/C on SGA). Most consumed food was self-provided (78.09%) and 3.81% of food was hospital-provided. Energy intakes were low with a median of 4805 kJ/day; 24.76% of participants met 100% of their energy requirements while 13.33% met ≥75% of their protein requirements with no significant difference between well-nourished and malnourished patients. Dietary sugar was higher than 10% of total energy, and alpha-linolenic acid was at 0.06% of total energy with severe deficient of vitamins and minerals. Conclusions: Current food supply including non-regulated sources in hospital was not able to meet the dietary requirements of inpatients. Improving hospital nutritional services, supporting patients at mealtimes and nutritional education among patients’ families are solutions to improve patient nutritional status.