An Exploratory Hospital-Based Study On Somatic Status and Dietary Habits of Patients with Pancreatitis

ABSTRACT Nutritional status of pancreatitis patients varies among new cases and recurrent patients. Under nutrition is one of the major risk factors in the mortality and morbidity of patients with pancreatitis. Severe malnutrition will adversely affect outcomes, as occurs in other critical diseases. Malnutrition is known to occur in 50-80% of chronic alcoholics and alcohol is a major etiological factor. Excess body fat, lack of lean body mass, muscle wasting and poor immune status are some of the indicators of malnutrition associated with poor prognosis in patients. This study was an observational prospective study conducted on 22 subjects in two multi-specialty hospitals of Mysore city in the period of 2 months. Patients admitted to the hospital with diagnosis of pancreatitis and who were above 17 years of age were recruited for the study. Questionnaire was designed and data such as demographic profile, anthropometric, biochemical, clinical symptoms, medications, 24 hr dietary recall of hospital and home were collected. Results were expressed as Mean ± Standard deviation. Statistical analysis was conducted using student t test and chi square test by means of SPPS 16.0 software. Among 22 subjects, 17 were diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and 5 with chronic pancreatitis, 19 subjects had a history of chronic alcoholism. The serum protein levels was in the lower end of normal (6.73±0.93 g/dl) while liver enzymes and pancreatic enzymes were high(AST-75±81.28 U/L, ALT-47.11±48.44 U/L, P.lipase-485.18±431.65, P.amylase-667.45±824.53). The mean weight on admission was 62.2±9.59 kg, a weight loss of 2-4 kg was seen among majority of the patients at discharge, which could be attributed to the low-calorie intake (mean 367±488 kcal) during hospital stay. Even though the mean BMI was 23.41±4.17, the weight was attributed to empty calories acquired by daily alcohol consumption rather than diet. The mean intake of home recall was 1507 ±288 and that of hospital recall was 367±488. Malnutrition was found to be present among subjects and significant difference (p value-0.000) was seen in patients’ calorie intake. Nutritional status plays a major role in prognosis of patients and early nutrition support must be practiced for better recovery, reduction in length of stay and improvement in nutritional status of the patient. Keywords: Pancreatitis, Nutritional status, dietary recall, Malnutrition, Acute Pancreatitis, Chronic Pancreatitis