Energy-dense vs routine enteral nutrition in New Zealand Europeans, Māori, and Pacific Peoples who are critically ill.

Aims: To evaluate the effect of energy-dense vs routine enteral nutrition on day-90 mortality by ethnic group in critically ill adults.

Methods: Pre-planned subgroup analysis of the 1,257 New Zealanders in a 4,000-participant randomised trial comparing energy-dense enteral nutrition (1.5kcal/mL) with routine enteral nutrition (1kcal/mL) in mechanically ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The primary purpose of this analysis was to evaluate responses to study treatment by ethnic group (European, Māori, and Pacific Peoples) using ethnicity data recorded in the clinical records. The secondary purpose was to compare the characteristics and outcomes of patients by ethnic group. The primary outcome was day-90 mortality.

Results: Among 1,138 patients included in the primary outcome analysis, 165 of 569 (29.0%) assigned to energy-dense nutrition and 156 of 569 patients (27.4%) assigned to routine nutrition died by day 90 (odds ratio; 1.06; 95% CI, 0.92-1.22). There was no statistically significant interaction between treatment allocation and ethnicity with respect to day-90 mortality. Day-90 mortality rates did not vary statistically significantly by ethnic group.

Conclusions: Among mechanically ventilated adults in New Zealand ICUs, the effect on day-90 mortality of energy-dense vs routine enteral nutrition did not vary by ethnicity.