A Retrospective Study of Nutritional Status in Patients with Bronchiectasis Pre and Post Pulmonary Rehabilitation - Abstract
Nutritional depletion is known to be a determinant of outcome in chronic respiratory disease but there is a paucity of evidence on nutritional intervention in bronchiectasis.
The aim of this study was to retrospectively review body mass index (BMI) and body composition of patients with bronchiectasis pre and post pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). The age, sex, smoking pack year history and forced expiratory volume in 1 second as percent predicted (FEV1 %) of patients enrolling in PR over a five year period were retrospectively reviewed. BMI and fat free mass index (FFMI), were recorded at the start and end of PR. The frequency and timing of dietetic input received within the PR course was recorded. 48 (18 male) patients completed PR with a mean (SD) age of 69.8 (10.0) years. The mean BMI (SD) was 26.6 kg/m2 (6.2) and mean (SD) FFMI kg/m2 was 17.6 (2.3). At the start of PR four patients were underweight, 16 normal BMI, 16 overweight and 12 obese. At the completion of PR there was no statistically significant change in BMI or FFMI. This study doesn’t show improvement in BMI or FFMI during PR but illustrates a challenge in engaging patients early in PR and that longer term follow up may show gains in BMI and FFMI. The challenge of dietetic input is also the ranges of BMI present (14.5-41.5 kg/m2) in this group of patients and detecting hidden loss of FFMI and maintaining any intervention for long enough to detect a change in body composition.