Physician compliance with registered dietitian recommendations in total parenteral nutrition patients
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine physician compliance with registered
dietitian (RD) recommendations for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) patients and its effect
on patient length of hospital stay, days of TPN administration, body weights, albumin and
prealburnin levels, and mortality rates. Closed medical charts, from a 350-bed acute care
hospital, were reviewed for 202 patients who had received TPN during 2007. Data was
analyzed using the non-parametric chi square test of association and one-way analysis of
variance. Patients had increased lengths of hospital stay (p < .01), increased days of TPN
admini stration (p = .066), and higher albumin levels at time of hospital discharge
(p < .05), when physicians complied with RD recommendations. However, physician
compliance did not have a significant effect on patients' weights or mortality. Additional
research should be conducted in other hospitals to evaluate the frequencies and outcomes
of physician compliance with RD TPN recommendations.