The Medical Nutrition Therapy Provided to Adult Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy

The objective of this study was to determine the current medical nutrition therapy (MNT) provided to adult hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients and to compare dietitian and physician perceptions regarding MNT. A total of 60 (57% response) Registered Dietitians (RDs) and 11 (10% response) physicians responded to an electronic questionnaire. An oral diet is the primary form of nutrition for HSCT patients and PN is being used more frequently than EN for all donor types (P≤0.05). The RDs had varying degrees of autonomy in order-writing and were most often recommending MNT to the physician or writing the MNT order with a physician co-signature. Most RDs reported desiring higher autonomy than what they were currently practicing for many nutrition therapy tasks (P<0.05). No difference was found in current practice or desired autonomy based on the years of experience or educational degree.