Survival Analysis of Enterally Fed Patients: Prognosis and Mortality Risk According to Baseline Characteristics

Enteral nutrition is widely used. However, its benefits remain unclear in specific conditions like dementia. This study assesses the survival of enterally fed patients and the baseline characteristics associated with higher mortality.

A retrospective analysis of biochemical and clinical data from 377 patients (age 77.5 ± 13.8) who received enteral tube feeding (ETF) at a tertiary hospital in Spain was performed. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regressions were used to analyze survival expectancy and mortality risk (MR). Risk was evaluated for 30/180 days and up to 5 years.

The most common individual diagnoses leading to ETF prescription were dementia (37.9%) and head/neck/upper-gastrointestinal-tract cancer (17.5%). Comorbidities (high blood pressure [HBP] and/or diabetes) were present in 72.4% of patients. The first 30 days after tube placement showed the highest mortality rate, corresponding to 85.4% of patients that did not continue being tube-fed. Multivariate Cox analysis (P < .05, 95% CI) showed HBP and glycemia to be predictive of overall (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.600; HR = 1.756) and long-term (HR = 3.092; HR = 4.539) death. In the short-term, only glycemia showed an increased MR (HR = 1.572).

This enterally fed population showed a noticeably high initial mortality rate. Despite official recommendations against it, ETF is very common in advanced dementia. Baseline characteristics are useful for identifying patients that would be less benefited by the intervention. Accordingly, families should be informed about realistic outcomes and risks derived from this procedure.