Characteristics of dietary intake among adult patients in hospitals in a lower middle-income country in Southeast Asia.

AIM: Low-dietary intake is a common problem and cause of malnutrition during hospitalisation. This study aims to determine the current dietary intake and food sources of hospitalised adults in Ho Chi Minh City.

METHODS: Participants were adult patients from six general public hospitals in a multi-site survey undertaken in 2016. Dietary intakes for all foods consumed in the previous day were collected via interview using the 24 hours recall method. Nutritional status was assessed using Subjective Global Assessment or BMI.

RESULTS: Data were collected from 887 participants. Most food consumed in hospital was from non-regulated foodservices. Food was self-provided and home-cooked (27.7%), bought from outside the hospital (13.6%), from the hospital canteen (16.8%) or a combination of these (39.4%). Only 1.3% of food was provided by the hospital. Energy intakes were very low with a median of 3550 kJ/day; and only 4.2% of participants met 100% of their energy requirements. Decreased appetite, fullness or restrictions due to medical indications were the most common reasons for low-dietary intake. Malnourished participants were 2.2 times more likely to have low-dietary intake compared to well-nourished participants.

CONCLUSIONS: Non-regulated foodservices in hospital were not able to meet the dietary requirements of patients leading to hospital malnutrition. Standardisation of food from on-site canteens, covering meal costs from universal medical insurance, and developing guides for food provisioning for patients' families are potential solutions to improve patient nutritional status.