ESPEN 2022 Late Breaking Abstracts

Topic: Nutritional assessment

Abstract Submission Identifier: ESPEN22-LB-2172

THE MALNUTRITION PATHWAY: 10 YEARS OF RAISING AWARENESS OF DISEASE-RELATED MALNUTRITION (DRM)

H. Franklin ¹, A. Holdoway^*, ²

¹Malnutrition Pathway, Thames Ditton, ²Bath Clinic, Bath, United Kingdom

Rationale: To support non-nutrition experts to identify, treat and prevent DRM in the community a multi-professional panel was convened in 2011 to create easily accesible, evidence-based resources. Launched in 2012 the resources have been updated and expanded iteratively over the past 10 years to include disease specific areas. To measure their impact a series of evaluations were undertaken.

Methods: Evaluations included endorsements from professional and patient organisations, patient testing, website analytics, end-user feedback and pilot studies measuring implementation and impact on healthcare outcomes.

Results: Ongoing endorsement from 10 professional/patient organisations including an endorsement statement from the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Patient involvement helped to create downloadable patient information sheets to support healthcare professionals (HCPs) in delivering appropriate nutritional advice. Feedback from HCPs led to the creation of new materials on COPD, COVID-19, cancer, dysphagia, falls and sarcopenia along with 20 patient/carer information sheets. Circa 250,000 website visits since 2012 (30,642 in 2021) from over 150 countries. In 2021 the 'Managing Adult Malnutrition in the Community' document was downloaded 61,258 times along with 15,618 corresponding patient leaflets. An adoption map shows widespread UK usage of resources. Registrations for updates include all members of the community HCP team, patients and carers. Pilot implementation studies have shown a reduction in costs and improvements in nutrition in an older community population¹ (saving up to £997 per patient over 6 months) and patients with COPD².

Conclusion: These results show that www.malnutritionpathway.co.uk resources are considered credible and valuable, being used by a broad range of HCPs in the community to support the identification, management and prevention of DRM.  Pilot studies have demonstrated a positive impact on patient outcomes and healthcare usage.

References:  1. Brown F et al (2020). J Nutr Health Aging 24(3):305-311   2. Cawood A et al (2017). Eur Respir J 50 (suppl61):PA1609

Disclosure of Interest: H. Franklin Grant / Research Support from: The development of the Malnutrition Pathway resources has been made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from Nutricia, A. Holdoway Consultant for: received honoraria and speaker fees from Nutricia, Danone and Abbott

Keywords: disease-related malnutrition