Profile of spinal cord injuries and the prevalence of malnutrition risk among spinal cord injury patients admitted to Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama ,

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Malnutrition is a problem with a long period of debilitation. This study describes socio demographic characteristics and malnutrition risk of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) patients at Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama (RRH). METHODS: All SCI patients admitted to RRH during September to November 2015 were studied. Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) was measured to assess the body mass index (BMI) category and nutritional screening was done with the Malnutrition Universal Screening tool (MUST). RESULTS: There were 138 SCI patients. 124 (90%) of them were males, median age was 39 (IQR: 27 to 57) years. Cause of spinal injury was as follows: 62 (45%) falls, 35 (25%) road traffic accidents (RTA), 20 (14%) disease related, 5 (3.6%) each from assault, blunt trauma and spinal tumors. The median (IQR) MUAC was 25 (22-27) cm and 23% were in BMI category less than 20 kg/m2 and 7% were in BMI category more than 30kg/m2. 84 (61 %) were at risk ofundernutrition (MUST score 1 or more). 27 (19.5%) were at high risk ofundernutrition (MUST score 2 or more), where the high risk was seen in 37.5% ofbedbound patients compared to 12.27% in others (P<0.01). 44 (32%) of SCI patients had pressure ulcers and 38.6% of them were at high risk ofundernutrition (MUST score 2 or more) compared to 10.6% in non-ulcer patients (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: According to MUST, more than half of the SCI patients were at risk of undernutrition and 19.5% were at high risk of undernutrition, where this was specifically seen in bedbound patients and patients with pressure sores.