ArticleMalawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi2015
Experiences of health professionals with nutritional support of critically ill patients in tertiary hospitals in Malawi.
Article in Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Implementation of the nutrition care process on mortality risk in critically ill COVID-19 patients - a registry longitudinal cohort study.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Nutrition Capacity Building to Meet National Priorities: Lessons Learned in Developing and Implementing Malawi's First Dietetics Program.Global health, science and practice · 2021Article
- Clinical nutrition care challenges in low-resource settings during the COVID-19 pandemic: A focus on Malawi.Journal of global health · 2020Article
- Malnutrition in Acute Care Surgery Patients in Rwanda.World journal of surgery · 2020Observational
- The introduction of a paediatric nutrition support program led by a clinical dietitian at a low-resource hospital setting in Malawi.Global health action · 2019Article
- Registered Dietitians' enteral feeding practices, obstacles, and needs during the management of critically Ill hospitalized patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study.International journal of health sciencesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNutritional support is a recognized determinant of outcome in critically ill patients. Development of critical care services in low-income countries has not been accompanied by certain appropriate ancillary services and interventions, such as adequate nutritional support. This study was designed to investigate the experiences of health professionals who have provided nutritional supportive care to critically ill patients admitted to two major central hospitals in Malawi, with the aim of identifying the common practices in nutritional support in these settings. MATERIALS AND
methodsA cross-sectional study in which 50 health professionals working in intensive care and high dependency units, admitting both adult and pediatric patients, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were coded and then analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Responses between the two hospitals were compared using Fisher's exact test.
resultsThere was no difference in the composition of respondents from the two hospitals. About 60% of respondents had had experience with nutritional supplementation in their patients-mainly enteral. The most commonly used formulations were the "ready-to-use therapeutic feeds," followed by modified milk. A high percentage of respondents (40%) reported having used dextrose solution as the sole nutritional supplement. Lack of in-service training, nonexistent nutrition protocols pertaining to acutely and critically ill patients, and a lack of clinical nutritionists were the major challenges identified.
conclusionKnowledge of nutrient supplementation was poor among the respondents. The use of ready-to-use therapeutic feeds was quite common, although there is no evidence of its effectiveness in care of acutely critically ill patients. There is a need to establish nutritional support teams in these tertiary hospitals. Clinical nutritionists would ideally help train and play leadership roles in such teams, who would be responsible for assessing patients for their nutritional needs, and ensuring that the feeds provided to patients are appropriate and adequate for their needs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.