Variation trends of malnutrition status among malignancy inpatients in China from 2014 to 2021

Objective: We explored the malnutrition status of Chinese malignancy inpatients from 2014 to 2021 and analyzed the trends in the rates or ratios of various nutrition-related indicators in oncology patients over 8 years. Methods: A total of 34,878 oncology patients admitted to hospitals from 2014 to 2021 were enrolled (INSCOC study). Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) and Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) were used to screen patients for nutritional risk and assess their nutritional status, and nutritional therapy data was gathered. Results: From 2014 to 2021, there was an overall decreasing trend in the prevalence of nutritional risk and malnutrition among oncology inpatients (χ2trend = 108.154, P < 0.001; χ2trend = 70.230, P < 0.001), with malnutrition in patients falling from 68.1% in 2014–2015 to 57.2% in 2020–2021, while malnutrition rates in patients with cervical cancer and malignant lymphoma are gradually increasing. The overall rate of total nutritional therapy for patients is on the rise (χ2trend = 67.548, P < 0.001), increasing from 39.4% (2014–2015) to 44.7% (2020–2021). A trend of rising and then falling rate of parenteral nutrition therapy was observed in patients, whereas the rate of enteral nutrition therapy grew annually (P for trend < 0.001). Nutritional therapy rates for malnourished patients are on an increasing trend, a slight increase, however, remains for well-nourished patients (P for trend < 0.001). Moreover, the prevalence in elderly oncology patients (≥60 years) also showed a downward trend in both nutritional risk and malnutrition (χ2trend = 38.897, P < 0.001; χ2trend = 75.616, P < 0.001), but malnutrition rates were higher in elderly patients than in individuals under 60 years at different years (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The great majority of patients with malignancy have a significantly decreased prevalence of nutritional risk or malnutrition from 2014 to 2021, and the rate of nutritional therapy is on the rise. However, the nutritional status of individuals with cervical cancer and malignant lymphoma remains poor. The problem of malnutrition remains prominent in elderly patients despite improvements in their nutritional status.