Most patients with COPD are malnourished presenting with adipose tissue and muscle mass depletion and have high grades of dyspnea, according to a study published in the Canadian Respiratory Journal. Carina Rôlo Silvestre and colleagues conducted a longitudinal observational study of patients hospitalized with exacerbated COPD. Using Nutrition Risk Screening 2002, anthropometric, and biochemical assessments, nutritional status was analyzed within the first 48 hours of hospitalization. One-half of the patient cohort was at increased risk for malnutrition; 36.7% were classified as malnourished based on their BMI. Following evaluation of the tricipital skin fold, 69.0%
were classified as malnourished, with 48.3% showing severe malnutrition. A total of 29.6% met malnutrition criteria based on their serum albumin level. A considerable link was found between dyspnea and increasing age (P=0.037). Based on the Fisher exact test (13.6) and Cramér’s Vmeasure (0.826), there was a robust correlation between the fold classification and the degrees of dyspnea severity.
