Nutritional Biomarkers Associated with Prolonged Hospitalization in COVID-19 Patients at a Peruvian Hospital

Castro Rivera H.M.; Cunyas Aquino N.J.; Gomez Rutti Y.Y.; Inocente Camones M.Á.; Taboada García M.A.; Acevedo Rique I.M.; Puig-Lagunes Á.A. · Nutricion Clinica y Dietetica Hospitalaria (2026) · DOI: 10.12873/ncdh-2026-168

Resumen

Introduction: COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of nutritional status as a determining factor in the clinical outcomes of hospitalized patients. Objective: To determine the association between nutritional biomarkers and length of hospital stay in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 during 2020 in a Peruvian hospital. Methods: This was a quantitative, retrospective, non-experimental, descriptive-correlational study. Sixty-two patients, aged 24 to 86 years, were evaluated using non-probability sampling from hospital medical records. Anthropometric indicators, such as body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), and biochemical parameters, including serum albumin (g/dL), hemoglobin (g/dL), hematocrit (%), lymphocyte count (%), and serum glucose (mg/dL), were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and a multivariate logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex. A significance level of p < 0.05 was applied. Results: Excess body weight was present in 75.8% of patients; the most frequent biochemical alterations were lymphopenia (85.5%), hyperglycemia (48.4%), and hypoalbuminemia (16.1%). Prolonged hospital stay (≥8 days) was observed in 35.5% of cases. Significant associations were found between lower albumin levels (ρ = –0.392; p = 0.002) and lower lymphocyte counts (ρ = –0.328; p = 0.009) with longer hospitalization, as well as between higher serum glucose and prolonged stay (ρ = 0.324; p = 0.010). Serum albumin (OR = 0.17; p = 0.005) and lymphocyte count (OR = 0.91; p = 0.036) were identified as independent protective predictors against prolonged hospitalization. Conclusion: Serum albumin, lymphocyte count, and serum glucose were significantly associated with the length of hospital stay in patients with COVID-19. These findings highlight the clinical utility of early monitoring of nutritional and immunometabolic biomarkers to stratify risk, guide timely interventions, and optimize hospital management.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener; Universidad Nacional de Educación Enrique Guzmán y Valle