Some 140,000 adult patients in Ireland are affected by malnutrition at any one time, costing the State over €1.4 billion annually, however awareness of this serious health issue remains low, a conference has been told.

Malnutrition refers to under-nutrition that affects a person's health and wellbeing. It can come about if the body cannot use food properly, which can lead to a person losing weight and developing nutritional deficiencies. Certain diseases can also lead to appetite suppression.

The international conference, which was recently held in Dublin, was organised by the Irish Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (IrSPEN). Delegates including doctors, nurses and dieticians were told that malnutrition is common among hospital and community patients, particularly older patients.

The problem costs the State €1.42 billion every year in direct health and social care costs, which is greater than the costs associated with obesity. These high costs are due to the pressures placed on the healthcare system by these patients.

For example, malnourished patients develop three times more infections than other patients and tend to suffer more complications. The length of the average hospital stay of a malnourished patient is 30-70% longer than the length of stay of other patients and they are more likely to visit their GP or to require hospital admission.

Malnourished patients also have an increased risk of death within six months compared to nourished people with a similar diagnosis.

Meanwhile, older malnourished patients are less likely to be discharged from hospital and are therefore more likely to need long-term inpatient care.

The conference was told that malnutrition can usually be prevented or treated if detected early enough. Treatment can include the use of oral nutritional supplements, which have been shown to be effective in patients who are not meeting their nutritional needs through food.

However the conference also heard that the problem can be difficult to detect if the patient is overweight, as this may mask body composition changes and the loss of muscle tissue.

This is why a screening programme is required, delegates were told. Such programmes have proven effective in other countries. For example, malnutrition rates among patients have fallen significantly in Holland in the last five years, following the introduction of mandatory screening.

"In Ireland, the implementation of a national screening programme has the potential to deliver clinical improvements and net savings, as it ensures that nutritional supplements and other forms of nutritional support are directed at those who need and will benefit from it most.

"Despite this, screening is not routinely conducted in the majority of Irish hospitals and healthcare settings, nor is there a national strategy in place to manage malnutrition in patients once identified," explained Niamh Rice, a consultant nutritionist and director of the (IrSPEN).

She pointed out that screening programmes have proven to be ‘highly cost effective'.

"Given that malnourished patients and their medical care costs the state over €1.4 billion per year, any potential saving that can be made will have a substantial positive impact on our health system. Even a 1% reduction would deliver €14 million in savings," she explained.

Also speaking at the conference , Dr Michael Chourdakis, of the Aristotle University of Thessalonika in Greece explained how that country has prioritised this issue, despite its grave financial situation.

"Despite the fact that the Greek economy was probably in a substantially worse state than Ireland's, we tried to convince Greek authorities about the long-term health and financial benefits associated with tackling this major health issue.

"Legislation recently implemented in Greece is ground breaking as it incorporates many of the well established national and international guidelines for the provision of nutritional care and puts Greece in the select club of countries which actually have the opportunity to provide their patients with a high standard evidence-based nutritional treatment," he said.

He urged the government to tackle this problem now ‘rather than allowing it to become a potential long-term health time bomb'.