Food intake and weight loss of surviving inpatients in the course of COVID-19 infection: A longitudinal study of the multicenter NutriCoviD30 cohort

OBJECTIVES: NutriCoviD30 is a longitudinal multicenter cohort study that aimed to provide nutritional objective data of inpatients during COVID-19 infection. The aims of this study were to describe the nutritional effects of COVID-19 infection on adult inpatients on the short- to mid-term (≤30 d after hospital discharge), using food intake and weight measurements and to identify factors associated with a decrease in food intake and weight. METHODS: Food intake and weight trajectories, as well as clinical signs of the disease, preexisting chronic diseases, and nutritional strategies were collected and analyzed during the course of the disease. Their association was estimated using mixed-effect regression modeling. Patients were recruited from French university hospitals from May to July 2020. For the 403 included patients (mean 62.2 ± 14.2 y of age; 63% men), median (interquartile range [IQR]) hospital length of stay was 13 d (IQR = 8, 20), and 30% of patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. RESULTS: Patients declared a median 70% food intake decrease in the acute phase, and the disease resulted in an average loss of 8% of predisease weight (corresponding to –6.5 kg). Although most patients recovered their usual food intake 1 month after hospital discharge, they only regained half of their weight loss, such that malnutrition, which affected 67% of patients during hospitalization, persisted in 41%. Patients with overweight, obesity, and diabetes reported an additional weight loss of >1.5% of their initial bodyweight during hospitalization and recovery phase. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent malnutrition and its long-term effects, mainly combined with a rapid weight loss predominantly affecting lean body mass, implementation of nutritional support is needed for COVID-19 inpatients. It should be started early in the course of the infection, and be extended up to the recovery phase.