Assessing Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients Receiving Home Enteral Nutrition with a Disease-Specific Tool (NutriQoL®): A Prospective Observational Study in Spain.

Introduction: Home enteral nutrition (HEN) is recommended for patients with nutritional requirements who can stay outside the hospital environment. HEN guidelines recommend assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) to evaluate the effect of the treatment. In this context, NutriQoL® is a specific questionnaire developed to assess HRQoL in patients receiving HEN and validated in Spanish population. Methods: This was a prospective observational study was conducted in two Spanish hospitals to record and describe the evolution of HRQoL, in patients receiving HEN in routine clinical practice using NutriQoL®. Results: Fifty-seven patients participated in the study, of whom 36 patients attended at least one visit during the 6-month follow-up period. Most of them were at risk or moderate malnutrition (61.1%) or showed severe malnutrition (27.8%) at baseline. The mean (SD) NutriQoL score obtained at baseline was 69.4 (12.6), which increased to 71.0 (14.6) and 71.8 (14.1) at 3 and 6 months of follow-up, respectively. Approximately 60% of patients had good HRQoL, while 25% had excellent HRQoL. At 6-months follow-up visit, 46.4% of patients had good HRQoL, and 32.1% excellent. Patients receiving oral HEN showed a higher score compared with those fed by a non-oral method/route. Proportion of patients at risk or with moderate malnutrition maintained at 6 months, and there were no patients with severe malnutrition, increasing the proportion of patients with normal nutrition to 38.5%. Additionally, physicians considered HRQoL evaluation useful for clinical practice. Limitations of the study include small sample size, and a loss follow-up after 6 months. Conclusion: The assessment of HRQoL evolution using NutriQoL in patients receiving HEN appears valuable, as it provides valuable insights contributing to a more comprehensive nutritional evaluation and enhancing holistic patient care.