Prevalence, impact, and management of adult disease-related malnutrition in African hospitals: a narrative review and insight from resource-limited clinical settings.

Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) is a worldwide problem regarded as a global policy priority, but occurs on an exaggerated scale in Africa. While interpretation of studies is difficult due to the variety of nutrition assessment techniques, DRM in acute care in-patient African settings is commonly reported in the range of 45-75%, with nutritional risk reaching 84%. Challenges to the comprehensive management of DRM in the resource-limited clinical settings with few dietitians reviewed in this paper include the following: first, lack of routine nutrition screening resulting in more than 90% of malnourished or at-risk patients failing to receive nutrition support referrals, or receiving very delayed referrals.