Dietary Intake and Biochemical Indicators and their Association with Wound Healing Process among Adult Burned Patients in the Gaza Strip

Abstract

Burn is a traumatic injury that causes immunological, endocrine, inflammatory, many metabolic responses and emotional stress which can affect dietary, micronutrients and antioxidants intake, which in turn have effects on recovery outcomes. To investigate the role of the nutrition and dietary intake on the progression of the different stages of the healing process among burned patients in Gaza strip. One hundred burned adult patients (36males and 64 females) were enrolled in this cross-sectional clinic-based study at Médecins Sans Frontières/ France clinics in Gaza Strip. Pretested interview questionnaires, Food Frequency Questionnaires, 24 hour dietary recall, anthropometric measures, and biochemical tests were used to assess dietary, health, and healing score among burned patients. This study reported positive association between Magnesium (χ2=8.700, p=0.013), Copper (χ2=60.916, p=<0.0001), and Vitamin C (χ2=91.684, p=<0.0001)) with healing score. The results reported that the protein and energy intake were significantly lower (< 0.001) than the recommendations for both components, which might explain the higher prevalence of moderate healing (65%) among the participants. The adequacy of micronutrients such as Magnesium, Copper, and Vitamin C might be associated with positive wound healing outcomes. Consumption of healthy food is very important for healing process among burned patients. There is a real need for planned and well-balanced meals for burned patients.