Nutritional status influences the length of stay and clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized in internal medicine wards.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the nutritional status (NS) and clinical outcome and length of stay (LOS) among patients admitted to the internal medicine ward.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study performed with the data of clinical patients collected during a one year period. The NS was assessed using: subjective global assessment (SGA), body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), muscle arm circumference (MAC) and combined tools.