A UK survey of nutritional care pathways for patients with Covid‐19 prior to and post hospital stay.

Abstract

Background: During the global Covid-19 pandemic, UK dietitians have delivered the best care to help patients recover from the infection. This study examined the development and evaluation of care pathways to manage nutritional care of patients following Covid-19 infection prior to and after discharge. Methods: Registered UK dietitians completed an online questionnaire comprising 26 questions about the development of a pathway, its use, evaluation and training needs. Results: Of 57 responses, 37 (65%) were involved in management of nutritional care for Covid-19. Only 19 responses had a new or adapted Covid-19 pathway. Of these, 74% reported involvement of dietetic services, 47% reported >1 eligibility criteria for pathway inclusion and 53% accepted all positive or suspected cases. All respondents used nutritional screening, first line dietary advice (food first) and referral for further advice and monitoring. Weight and food intake were the most used outcome measure. All pathways addressed symptoms related to nutrition, the most common being weight loss with poor appetite, not being hungry and skipping meals in 84% of pathways. Over half of respondents (54%) planned to evaluate their pathway and 83% reported they were ‘very or reasonably confident’ in their team’s nutritional management of Covid-19. Less than half (42%) reported on training needs. Conclusions: Despite the challenges encountered, pathways were developed and implemented. Dietitians had adapted to new ways of working to manage nutritional care in patients prior to and after discharge from hospital following Covid-19 infection. Further work is needed to develop strategies for evaluation of their impact.