Association Between Enteral Feeding, Weight Status, and Mortality in a Medical Intensive Care Unit

Clinical practice guidelines recommend enteral nutrition for most patients receiving mechanical ventilation. However, recently published evidence on the effect of enteral nutrition on mortality, particularly for patients who are well nourished, is conflicting.

To examine the association between enteral feeding and hospital mortality in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation and to determine if body mass index mediates this relationship.

A retrospective cohort study of patients receiving mechanical ventilation admitted to a medical intensive care unit in 2013. Demographic and clinical variables were collected. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the relationship between an enteral feeding order and hospital mortality and to determine if the relationship was mediated by body mass index.

Of 777 patients who had 811 hospitalizations requiring mechanical ventilation, 182 (23.4%) died in the hospital. A total of 478 patients (61.5%) received an order for enteral tube feeding, which was associated with a lower risk of death (hazard ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.29-0.59). Body mass index did not mediate the relationship between mortality and receipt of an order for enteral feeding. Median stay in the unit was 3.6 days. Most deaths (72.0%) occurred more than 48 hours after admission.

The finding of a positive association between an order for enteral feeding and survival supports enteral feeding of patients in medical intensive care units. Furthermore, the beneficial effect of enteral feeding appears to apply to patients regardless of body mass index.