[Nutritional risk in hospitalized patients with cardiovascular disease: assessment using CONUT and Nutritional Risk...

malnutrition is common among hospitalized patients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. In patients with cardiovascular disease, malnutrition may coexist with being overweight or obesity, a phenomenon known as the double burden of malnutrition. Early identification through screening tools may improve clinical outcomes.

to determine the prevalence of nutritional risk in adult patients hospitalized for cardiovascular disease using validated nutritional screening tools.

an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted in adult patients admitted to the cardiology ward of a tertiary care hospital between July 2024 and December 2025. Sociodemographic, clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical variables were collected from medical records. Nutritional risk was assessed using the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the Nutritional Risk Index (NRI). Descriptive statistics were performed, and agreement between both tools was evaluated.

a total of 627 patients were analyzed (mean age 60.3 ± 14.3 years; 60.6 % male). Overweight or obesity was present in 76.9 % of the patients. According to the CONUT score, 66.6 % presented some degree of nutritional risk (52.6 % mild, 12.6 % moderate, and 1.4 % severe), whereas the NRI classified 43.3 % as being at nutritional risk. Agreement between both tools was poor (κ = 0.16; 95 % CI 0.11-0.21; p < 0.001).

the coexistence of overweight or obesity with nutritional risk highlights the double burden of malnutrition. CONUT and NRI showed poor agreement, suggesting that these tools are not interchangeable. Systematic nutritional screening at hospital admission may facilitate early identification of patients at risk and guide timely nutritional interventions.