Malnutrition is a cause of concern in hospitalised patients because of the association with various adverse health care outcomes. Despite the rising prevalence of obesity, malnutrition amongst Indigenous Australians living in Central Australia is a serious issue that is directly connected to their social determinants of health including: socio-economic disadvantage, geographical location, environmental and social factors. Malnutrition is disabling and contributes towards chronic diseases such as; cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and renal disease and the less recognised acute condition, refeeding syndrome.
Refeeding syndrome is a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs in malnourished patients in response to sudden carbohydrate intake. The impact of malnutrition and refeeding syndrome in Indigenous Australians remains poorly defined and understood in Central Australia and improved recognition and management of malnutrition to prevent refeeding syndrome from occurring is essential for reducing in-hospital morbidity and mortality and improving health care outcomes.
Malnutrition screening is the first step at identifying malnourished patients and is recommended by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence for every newly admitted patient. However, malnutrition screening in hospitalised patients is often variable and suboptimal amongst nurses despite nurses being in a prime position to identify malnourished patients and make early referrals to dietitians for further nutritional assessment and management.
The aims of this research are to increase the awareness of malnutrition in hospitalised Indigenous Australians in Central Australia; validate that the current malnutrition risk-assessment screening tool is appropriate for Indigenous Australians; determine the prevalence of refeeding syndrome and assess Indigenous Australian’s refeeding risk factors against current guidelines, explore the impact of malnutrition on chronic diseases including; cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and finally, to understand better the knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes of nurses regarding malnutrition risk-assessment screening.