Association of Early Nutritional Status with the Clinical Severity in Patients with Acute Stroke

Abstract

Background: Prevalence of malnutrition in stroke patients in Indonesia is not known for certain because the assessment of nutritional status has not been conducted optimally in all stroke patient5s due to the existing limitations. Early nutritional status assessment is helpful in planning the provision of nutrition for acute stroke patients. Commonly used nutritional status assessment methods are anthropometry (LOLA and TST) and biochemistry (serum albumin levels). Objective: To analyze the association of early nutritional status with clinical severity in acute stroke patients. Methods: The study design was a prospective cohort with consecutive sampling according to inclusion and exclusion criteria of 102 subjects. Initial nutritional status was measured in Upper Arm Circumference (LOLA), Triceps Skinfold Thickness (TST), and serum albumin level. The clinical severity was measured by calculating the NIHSS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale) at admission to hospital and the 7th day of stroke. Data was analyzed using chi square (p <0.05). Results: Most subjects were males (52.00%) with mean age of clinical severity was 54.48 ± 9.634 years old. There was no significant association between initial nutritional status (p = 0.227) and serum albumin level (0.552) with clinical severity. The measurements of LOLA (p = 0.049) and TST (p = 0.481) were statistically significant (p = 0.049) but not clinically. Conclusion: There was no association between early nutritional status that was measured with LOLA, TST and serum albumin levels with clinical severity measured with NIHSS scale in acute stroke patients