Influence of nutritional assistance on mortality by COVID-19 in critically ill patients

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Evidence suggests the existence of an association between the institution of nutritional therapy and clinical outcomes in patients with critical COVID-19. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of nutritional assistance on COVID-19 mortality in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU). METHODS: This is a subset of the cohort “Influence of nutritional therapy on clinical prognosis in patients with COVID-19: a multicenter retrospective cohort study”. Clinical and nutrition assistance information (type of assistance, evaluation of anthropometric status, and time of introduction of nutritional therapy) and presence of diabetes, hypertension and previous respiratory disease were collected from electronic medical records. To evaluate the association between the variables of interest and mortality, the hazard ratio was estimated. RESULTS: We evaluated 153 critically ill patients ≥18 years old, affected by COVID-19, with a rate of mortality of 77.8%. Among non survivors 58.8% were female, 52.9% aged <65 years, 66.4% had arterial hypertension, 46.2% diabetes mellitus and 81.5% had an early onset of nutritional support. Initiation of nutritional therapy after 48 h (HR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.57–4.20) and the presence of obesity (HR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.04–2.31) were associated with higher mortality, even after adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that the provision of early nutritional therapy should be prioritized, with greater attention directed to obese patients, and the nutritional assistance can contribute favorably to the clinical evolution and prognosis of critically ill patients with COVID-19.