Nutritional Status and Body Composition of Adult Patients with Brain Tumours Awaiting Surgical Resection.

OBJECTIVE

To measure the prevalence of malnutrition, risk factors for poor dietary intake and body composition in patients with brain tumours admitted to hospital for surgical resection.

METHODS

In this study, 316 patients admitted for brain tumour resection to the Neurosurgical service at St. Michael's Hospital were screened. Assessment tools included the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) for nutritional status and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) for body composition. All measurements were performed by one research dietitian. Information regarding medical history, symptomology, and tumour pathology was recorded.

RESULTS

One hundred and nine participants were recruited. Malnutrition was present in 17.6% of patients, of whom 94.7% were moderately malnourished (SGA-B) and 5.3% severely malnourished (SGA-C). Key symptoms contributing to malnutrition included weight loss, nausea, vomiting, dysphagia, headaches, and fatigue. Patients with malignant tumors were more likely to have weight loss and lower fat mass.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated that patients admitted for brain tumour resection have a low prevalence of malnutrition compared with other cancer populations. Useful parameters for nutritional screening of inpatient admissions include weight loss >5% of usual weight, nausea, vomiting, dysphagia, and headaches.