Malnutrition, Sarcopenia, and Dysphagia Awareness: We Still Below the Expected Point

Objective: Malnutrition prevalence is approximately 40-50% in hospitalized patients, especially patients followed at internal medicine clinics who have polymorbidities and are at increased risk of malnutrition.The aim of this study was to determine awareness among internal medicine research assistants regarding the assessment of malnutrition, sarcopenia, and dysphagia, which are frequently observed in patients attending internal medicine clinics. Materials and Methods:A questionnaire consisting of nine questions was applied to the Etlik City Hospital Internal Medicine research asistants who agreed to participate in the survey based on previous studies conducted by the researchers.Results: Forty-four (86.3%) of the internal medicine research assistants thought that they were insufficiently knowledgeable about nutrition management.Twenty-two (43.1%) participants stated that they regularly evaluated the nutritional status of every older patient in a hospital setting.2% (n=1) and 5.9% (n=3) of participants, respectively, performed valid tests for malnutrition and dysphagia screening, and internal medicine research assistants did not report using any reliable tests to screen for sarcopenia.Retrospectively, 35.3%, 47.1%, and 52.9% of those surveyed did not routinely screen for malnutrition, dysphagia, or sarcopenia.Research assistants in internal medicine were divided into two groups based on their profession time.There was no difference about nutrition knowledge, malnutrition, dysphagia and sarcopenia screening between the two groups.We found that the nutritional knowledge of internal medicine residents is inadequate. Conclusion:Nutritional interventions require multidisciplinary work, and all healthcare professionals should increase their awareness and knowledge about nutrition in routine clinical practice.