Abstract:
Background: Malnutrition and cachexia are serious consequences of numerous chronic
diseases. Severe heart failure patients could have marked weight loss. Malnutrition in
heart failure is independently associated with poor prognosis. Despite its implication,
malnutrition and cachexia are not studied in Africa and Ethiopia. Hence, this study tried
to identify factors which determine nutritional status among heart failure patients in an
Ethiopian setup. .
Objective: To determine factors affecting malnutrition among heart failure patients on
follow up at Jimma University specialized hospital from November 2013 to June 2014.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess nutritional status by using
anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests. Serum albumin was used to
identify patients with malnutrition. Simple Random sampling was used as a sampling
technique. Calculated sample size was 310. SPSS version 20.0 was used for data
analysis. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with malnutrition
among heart failure patients
Results: Mean age of the patients was 48.6 ±17.1 years. The commonest cause of heart
failure was ischemic heart disease. Hypertension was the commonest comorbid
disease. Forty four percent of patients had functional class II heart failure. Based on
serum albumin, Eighty nine percent of patients were malnourished. Serum hemoglobin
and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors treatment were the most important
determinant factor affecting nutritional status of heart failure patients.
Conclusions: The majority of patients were malnourished. Serum hemoglobin and
angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment were found to be important in
determining nutritional status of heart failure patients.
