Nutritional Assessment in Early Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients, a Cross-Sectional Study

Our study aims to comprehensively assess nutrition status and malnutritional prevalence in early allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) patients.

This single-center, cross-sectional study included 171 patients within the 90 days post-transplantation (from September 2019 to April 2020). Data collected included demographic, 3 day 24-h diet record, a Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) tool, laboratory tests, anthropometric indices, and body composition.

One hundred and seventy-one patients with a mean age of 37.8 ± 11.3 and a male to female ratio of 102 to 69 were included. According to PG-SGA, 115 (67.3%) indicated the critical need for nutritional intervention and symptom management (PG-SGA score > 9). Forty-three (43.3%) of patients had experienced insufficient intakes of energy according to a 24-h diet record. Our study found that 120 (70.2%) patients had a body fat percentage and high triacylglycerol (64.9%). Reduced free fat mass index and low hand-grip strength were found in 133 (77.78%) and 104 (60.81%), respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition was 24.6% and the prevalence of sarcopenia was 13.5%.

Although the prevalence was not high, this research has demonstrated a high risk of malnutrition and a lower muscle mass in early allo-HSCT. Furthermore, our study confirmed body composition assessment would be an excellent way to identify malnutrition precisely.