Objective
To assess the nutritional status of Korean patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), identify the predictors of undernutrition, and investigate the relationship between undernutrition and clinical outcomes.
Methods
A retrospective study design was used to determine the nutritional status of 130 patients over 19 years old admitted to the rehabilitation hospital of Yonsei University Health System between June 2015 and February 2017. The nutritional status was assessed using the malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST) and the spinal nutrition screening tool (SNST). The relationship between undernutrition and clinical outcomes was examined by comparing a low-risk group with an at-risk group using a t-test.
Results
Among the SCI patients, 70 (50.8%) were confirmed with undernutrition based on the MUST scores, while 60 (46.2%) had undernutrition based on the SNST scores. It was found that undernutrition has an effect on functional outcomes.
Conclusion
We assessed the undernutrition risk in Korean SCI patients, and found that approximately 50% of the patients were at risk of undernutrition. We also found that undernutrition can affect functional recovery.

Citations

• Multifaceted Pathophysiology and Secondary Complications of Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: Focus on Pressure Injury
  Mario Martínez-Torija, Pedro F. Esteban, Angela Santos-De-La-Mata, Matilde Castillo-Hermoso, Eduardo Molina-Holgado, Rafael Moreno-Luna
  Journal of Clinical Medicine.2025; 14(5): 1556.     CrossRef
• Defining malnutrition in persons with spinal cord injury – does the Global Criteria for Malnutrition work?
  Hanne Bjørg Slettahjell, Maria Bastakis, Fin Biering-Sørensen, Vegard Strøm, Christine Henriksen
  Food & Nutrition Research.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Significance of physical factors on activities of daily living in patients with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury: a retrospective study
  Kimin Yun, Jin-cheol Lim, Onyoo Kim
  BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• The risk of malnutrition in patients with spinal cord injury during inpatient rehabilitation–A longitudinal cohort study
  Irene Flury, Gabi Mueller, Claudio Perret
  Frontiers in Nutrition.2023;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Predictive validity of the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short‐Form for rehabilitation patients: A retrospective analysis of the Japan Rehabilitation Nutrition Database
  Shinta Nishioka, Hidetaka Wakabayashi, Jun Kayashita, Yutaka Taketani, Ryo Momosaki
  Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.2021; 34(5): 881.     CrossRef