Abstract
BACKGROUND: The objective was to investigate the implications of enteral nutrition for elderly patients with common-type coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: Data were retrospectively extracted from medical records. Enteral nutritional supplementation was recommended for patients with a nutritional risk score >3. The preferred method was oral administration, and preparations included Ensure and TPF-T. Continuous variables were compared using analysis of two-tailed Student's t-tests or one-way analysis of variance for normally distributed data and the rank sum test for non-normally distributed data. Categorical variables were compared using the χ2 test or Fisher's exact test. Values of p <0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The mortality rate in the whole cohort was 9.54%. A total of 474 patients tested negative and were discharged; among them, 173 patients received enteral nutrition while 301 patients did not. There were significant correlations between mortality and age, serum albumin concentration, prognostic nutritional index, underlying severe disease status and diet condition. In patients with a poor diet, early use of enteral nutrition is associated with faster conversion to a negative polymerase chain reaction test. CONCLUSIONS: The prognosis of elderly patients with common-type COVID-19 was related to their nutritional status. Enteral nutritional supplementation is the preferred method of nutrition because it is the simplest and most widely accepted method for patients. For patients with poor diet conditions, enteral nutritional intervention should be performed early.