Nutritional approach outcomes in palliative care patients with malnutrition

Aims: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of dietary patterns on activity and performance scores, symptom levels, laboratory parameters, anthropometric measurements and mortality in palliative care patients with high malnutrition risk score. Methods: The effects of enteral and parenteral feeding methods, which are the predominant feeding methods, on admission-discharge laboratory parameters, performance scales, activity indices, anthropometric measurements, symptom scales, infection status, duration of antibiotic use and mortality were evaluated in 103 patients aged 18 years and older who were hospitalized in the Palliative Care Service. Results: When evaluated on the scales, it was seen that enteral fed patients had better initial scores than parenteral fed patients. There was no difference between the nutrition groups in the mean length of stay in the Palliative Care Service and the frequency of infection, whereas the duration of antibiotic use was longer, transfer to the intensive care unit (74% vs. 12%, p