Enteral nutrition at home and in nursing homes: an 11-year (2002-2012) epidemiological analysis.

Background: Home enteral nutrition (HEN) is a well-established extra-hospital therapy that can reduce the risk of malnutrition, ensure the rapid discharge of patients from hospital and significantly reduce health care expenditure. The data reported in this study allow us to understand the relationships between mortality, the place of treatment either at patients' homes (PH) or in nursing homes (NHR) and nutritional status.

Methods: Patients were analyzed according to age, gender, underlying disease, the Karnofsky Index, type of enteral access device (nasogastric tube or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy), weight and Body Mass Index (BMI).

Enteral nutrition in nursing home residents: a 5-year (2001-2005) epidemiological analysis.

Background: Despite controversy and increasing use of enteral nutrition (EN) among elderly people, descriptive population-based data are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological data of nursing home residents (NHRs) who received EN in a northeast area of Italy.

Methods: All NHRs referred to our Nutrition Service for EN between 2001 and 2005 were enrolled.

Early nutritional intervention improves treatment tolerance and outcomes in head and neck cancer patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy.

Goals Of Work: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) undergoing chemoradiotherapy are at high risk of malnutrition, which is related to complication rate. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of an early intensive nutritional intervention on nutritional status and outcomes in patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy for HNC.

Materials And Methods: We analysed retrospectively the clinical documentation of 33 HNC patients who were referred for early nutritional intervention (nutrition intervention group, NG) before they were submitted to chemoradiotherapy.

Home enteral nutrition in adults: a five-year (2001-2005) epidemiological analysis.

Background: In the last twenty years Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN) has undergone considerable development and has determined economic and organisational changes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological data of 655 patients treated in the five-year period (2001-2005) in an area in the North-East of Italy.

Methods: The following data were analysed at the initiation of HEN: age, sex, pathology, Karnofsky index, type of enteral access device, presence of pressure ulcers, weight, body mass index, haematochemical tests, daily enteral intake.

Application criteria of enteral nutrition in patients with anorexia nervosa: correlation between clinical and psychological data in a "lifesaving" treatment.

Background: Data and research increasingly point to multiple factors in the genesis of eating-behavior disorders, but the lack of a clear etiological definition prevents a unique therapeutic or prognostic approach from being defined. Therapeutic approaches, as well as scientific research, have separately analyzed the psychological aspects and the clinical-nutrition aspects without integrating the variables or correlating clinical and psychological data. This work has several goals because it aims at considering the problem from the 2 different perspectives.