Does the type of disease and diet influence hospital weight loss? An analysis using the Generalized Estimating Equation method

Investigate weight evolution during hospitalization and its association with the type of disease and diet, over time. Retrospective study with 133 in-patients, investigating indicators of nutritional status, diet, disease, surgery and the evolution of body weight during hospitalization. The chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis tests and the method of Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) were used for the study of weight evolution over time, depending on the diet and type of disease. Underweight according to body mass index, malnutrition by subjective global assessment and nutritional risk according to nutritional risk screening (NRS), were found in 19.5%, 27.8% and 46.6% patients, respectively. There was no influence of the type of diet on weight evolution over time (p=0.0779), but there was an influence of the disease (p=0.0100). In digestive neoplasms, a greater reduction in body weight was observed. The NRS was more sensitive in the diagnosis of malnutrition. The type of disease influenced weight loss, but the type of diet did not influence the evolution of body weight over time.