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Quality of Life

Longitudinal follow-up of nutritional status and its influencing factors in adults undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 48, pages 446–451 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

There are few longitudinal data on nutritional status and body composition of patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT). We assessed nutritional status of 105 patients before alloHCT and its course during the early post-transplant period to day +30 and day +100 via weight history, body mass index (BMI) normalized for gender and age, Subjective Global Assessment, phase angle normalized for gender, age, and BMI, and fat-free and body fat masses. Furthermore, we present a multivariate regression model investigating the impact of factors on body weight. At admission, 23.8% reported significant weight losses (>5%) in the previous 6 months, and we noted 31.5% with abnormal age- and sex-adjusted BMI values (⩽10th, ⩾90th percentiles). BMI decreased significantly (P<0.0001) in both periods by 11% in total, meaning a weight loss of 8.6±5.7 kg. Simultaneously, the patients experienced significant losses (P<0.0001) of both fat-free and body fat masses. Multivariate regression model revealed clinically relevant acute GVHD (parameter estimate 1.43; P=0.02) and moderate/severe anorexia (parameter estimate 1.07; P=0.058) as independent factors influencing early weight loss. In conclusion, our results show a significant deterioration in nutritional status during the early post-transplant period. Predominant alloHCT-associated complications such as anorexia and acute GVHD became evident as significant factors influencing nutritional status.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Carole Cuerten for proofreading this manuscript, to Gabriele Ihorst from the Institute of Medical Biometry of the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg for the statistical advice. P Urbain was supported by a PhD grant from the National Research Fund, Luxemburg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Haematology/Oncology, Section of Nutrition, Albert Ludwigs-University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    P Urbain & J Birlinger

  2. Department of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

    P Urbain, C Lambert & H-K Biesalski

  3. Department of Haematology/Oncology, Section of Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation, Albert Ludwigs-University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    J Finke & H Bertz

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  1. P Urbain
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Correspondence to P Urbain.

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Urbain, P., Birlinger, J., Lambert, C. et al. Longitudinal follow-up of nutritional status and its influencing factors in adults undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 48, 446–451 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2012.158

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