Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore Malnutrition

Dr Goates describes a health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) analysis of estimated lifetime data from the multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of oral nutritional supplementation with high protein and β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HP-HMB) in malnourished, older, hospitalized patients (The NOURISH Study†). Careful modeling of healthcare costs and benefits demonstrates that the HP-HMB intervention is cost-effective, extends lives, and compares favorably with other low cost, low risk interventions, such as aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or flu vaccinations.

†NOURISH = Nutrition effect On Unplanned ReadmIssions and Survival in Hospitalized patients