Served versus actual nutrient intake of hospitalised patients with tuberculosis as compared with energy and nutrient requirements

Objectives. To assess whether actual nutrient intake of hospitalised patients with tuberculosis differed from that
served by the hospital and from that required according to current recommendations.
Design. Descriptive, cross-sectional study.
Setting. Brooklyn Chest Hospital in Brooklyn, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.
Subjects. Thirty patients with pulmonary tuberculosis from Brooklyn Chest Hospital, 23 male, 7 female, were
enrolled in the study.
Outcome measures. Assessment included dietary intake in order to calculate energy and nutrient intake, and
height and weight at the beginning of the study in order to calculate body mass index (BMI).
Results. Patients were receiving and consuming sufficient macronutrients (with the exception of protein in all
patients) and sufficient micronutrients (with the exceptions of calcium, iodine, folate and vitamin E in all
patients, beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin D in male patients, and selenium and pantothenate in female
patients). Actual intake consumed in the hospital did not differ from that served by the hospital in the case of
male patients, with the exception of iodine; for female patients, however, owing to significant plate wastage,
consumed intake was less than that served by the hospital (with the exceptions of vitamin C and vitamin K). A
total of 52% of the male patients and 71% of the female patients were normally nourished, according to their BMI.
The remainder were mildly to severely malnourished on the basis of their BMI.
Conclusions. According to current recommendations, the patients institutionalised at Brooklyn Chest Hospital
for tuberculosis were receiving inadequate protein and a number of micronutrients (calcium, iodine, folate and
vitamin E in all patients, beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin D in male patients, and selenium and
pantothenate in female patients). Intervention programmes should therefore be introduced as an adjunct to
antituberculosis therapy in order to rectify inadequate nutrient intake and to target malnourished patients.