Table 1 Clinical and nutritional characteristics of the participants (n = 441).

Characteristics
Age (years)
	Median [range]	76.0	[70–96]
	IQR [Q1–Q3]	[73.0-80.0]
Sex^a
	Male	216	49.0%
	Female	225	51.0%
Reasons for the first hospitalization
	Chemotherapy	182	41.3%
	Radiotherapy	74	16.8%
	Others (e.g., targeted therapy)	185	41.9%
Metastatic Disease^a		319	72.3%
Primary cancer location^a
	Gastrointestinal tract	133	30.9%
	Urological tract	89	20.7%
	Breast	64	14.9%
	Lung	30	7.0%
	Head and Neck	22	5.1%
	Gynaecologist	31	7.2%
	Others	61	14.2%
ECOG-Performance status^a
	0–1	192	43.5%
	2	141	32.0%
	3–4	108	24.5%
Current weight (kg)
	Median [range]	65.0	[33-135]
	IQR [Q1–Q3]	[55–75]
Weight loss compared with usual^a,b
	<5%	140	31.7%
	≥5%	301	68.3%
C-Reactive Protein concentration (mg/L)
	Median [range]	29.8	[0-393]
	IQR [Q1–Q3]	[7.0-77.6]
C-Reactive Protein concentration^a
	<2 mg/L	29	9.4%
	[2–10[mg/L]	66	21.5%
	[10–100[mg/L	161	52.4%
	>100 mg/L	51	16.6%
	Missing	134
Body mass index^a
	≤22	153	34.9%
	>22	286	65.1%
	Missing	2
MNA-SF score^a
	0–7	204	50.1%
	8–11	174	42.8%
	12–14	29	7.1%
	Missing	34
Ingesta-VAS score^a
	≤7	290	65.8%
	>7	151	34.2%
	Median [range]	6	[1–10]
	IQR [Q1–Q3]	[4–8]
Energy intake (kcal/kg/day^-)
	Median [range]	19.1	[1.4-48.9]
	IQR [Q1–Q3]	[13.7-25.0]
Energy intake^a
	<25 kcal/kg/day	328	74.4%
	≥25 kcal/kg/day	113	25.6%

IQR [Q1–Q3] interquartile ranges Quartile 1- Quartile 3, ECOG Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, MNA-SF Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short Form, Ingesta Consumed food and drinks, ingesta-VAS ingesta-Verbal Analogue Scale.
^aValues are expressed as number and percentage (%), mean (SD = standard deviation) or median [range].
^bPercentage of weight loss was based on the weight reported in the previous 6 months; if missing, the next longest time frame for reported percentage of weight loss was used if available (i.e., usual body weight, previous 3 or 2 months, or previous 1 month). The percentage of weight loss was calculated as follows: [(current weight in kg - previous weight in kg)/previous weight in kg] x 100.

Search