Other symptoms and general pathology Signs and Symptoms Symptoms and signs concerning food and fluid intake
Conditions
Interventions
1. Palatable liquid oral sip feed with vitamin supplements
2. Placebo (palatable liquid oral sip feed only)
Sponsors
NHS R&D Regional Programme Register - Department of Health (UK)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Patients admitted acutely to general medicine, general surgery and orthopaedics. 2. Patients with a body mass index <22 within the above sample, will be randomized to oral sipfeed or placebo feed, independent of whether they are receiving vitamin supplements.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Planned admission to medical or orthopaedic wards or to wards other than those 15 taking part in the study. 2. Less than 18 years 3. Mental illness 4. Admission for only 2 days
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. It is expected that a significant incidence of biochemical water soluble vitamin deficiency will be detected among the patients admitted via accident and emergency and that HPLC of single blood samples, will provide a reliable method for assay, and prove much more rapid and convenient than the established enzymatic methods of routine screening. 2. The incident of protein/energy malnutrition detected by anthropometric assessment is expected to approximate 40% in the study group of patients. 3. Previous studies suggest that we might expect a reduction of length of stay as a result of feed supplementation of undernourished inpatients. We might also see reductions in mortality in this group. 4. We might detect a reduction in length of stay and mortality as a result of water soluble vitamin supplementation, either in the study population as a whole, or within subgroups identified in the course of the study. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Not provided at time of registration | — |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed