Clinical outcome of protein-energy malnourished patients in a Brazilian university hospital

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is a treatable disease with high prevalence among hospitalized patients. It can cause significant increases in the duration of hospitalization and costs. PEM is especially important for health systems since malnourished patients present higher morbidity and mortality. The objective of the present study was to assess the evolution of nutritional status (NS) and the effect of malnutrition on clinical outcome of patients at a public university hospital of high complexity in Brazil. Patients hospitalized in internal medicine (n = 54), oncology (n = 43), and infect...