Nutrition Support Practices In Ghanaian Hospitals

ABSTRACT Background: Nutrition support remains a key component of medical care. It is beneficial for critically ill patients with eating difficulties and their inability to meet their nutritional requirements. Nutrition support has been shown to positively affect clinical outcomes. Notwithstanding, there is paucity of published data on nutrition support practices and delivery in Ghanaian hospitals. Aim: To investigate nutrition support and its related practices in hospitals in Ghana. Method: A cross-sectional study design was employed. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 137 healthcare professionals involved in nutrition support in 17 health facilities in Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on hospital demographics, profile of clinicians, nutrition support delivery and monitoring practices. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were summarized as frequencies and percentages. Data were presented in charts, tables and figures. Pearson’s Chi-square was used to determine the association between categorical variables. Statistical significance was set at p