[Nutritional risk screening in patients with Crohn's disease]

To screen the nutritional risk in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), to explore the prevalence and characteristics of nutritional risk in CD patients, and to identify the possible risk factors.

A cross-sectional study was performed in 712 patients who was diagnosed as CD in the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease of First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between January 2003 and January 2014. Montreal classification was used to classify CD, Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) was used to evaluate disease activity, and Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) was used to assess the nutritional risk in each patient. Reappraisal with NRS 2002 was conducted in patients followed up for 1 year to identify the possible effect of treatment on nutritional risk of the CD patients.

The prevalence of nutritional risk was 65.2% (464/712) in the enrolled CD patients. The prevalence of nutritional risk was significantly different among patients with different disease activity (χ(2)=117.169, P<0.001), also significantly different among patients of different age at diagnosis (χ(2)=11.256, P=0.004), with different lesion location (χ(2)=18.841, P=0.001) and different disease behavior (χ(2)=15.793, P<0.001), but not significantly different in patients of different sex (χ(2)=0.601, P=0.245). Multivariate Logistic regression showed that the independent predictive risk factors for nutritional risk included abdominal tenderness (OR=1.895, 95%CI: 1.080-3.324); mild (OR=1.846, 95%CI: 1.179-2.890), moderate (OR=4.410, 95%CI: 2.701-7.200) and severe (OR=14.069, 95%CI: 1.718-115.192) disease activity; B2 (stricturing) (OR=1.620, 95%CI: 1.034-2.538) and B3 (penetrating) (OR=1.920, 95%CI: 1.025-3.596) types of disease behavior; and high level with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (OR=1.024, 95%CI: 1.015-1.034). On the other hand, >40 years at diagnosis (A3 type) (OR=0.332, 95%CI: 0.135-0.814) and high albumin level (OR=0.962, 95%CI: 0.934-0.990) were independent protective factors for nutritional risk. After 1-year follow-up, nutritional risk was eliminated in 32.0%(111/347)of the patients, and the rate was higher in patients received surgery than in those treated with medicine alone (42.9%(54/126)vs 25.8%(57/221), χ(2)=10.742, P=0.001).

Two thirds of CD patients may have nutritional risk at diagnosis, which may differ with disease activity and Montreal classification. Abdominal tenderness, disease activity, B2 and B3 types of disease behavior, and high ESR may be independent risk factors for nutritional risk, whereas A3 type of age at diagnosis and high albumin level may be independent protective factors.