RecruitingOBSERVATIONAL

Nutritional Screening in Cardiovascular Disease

This study aims to understand how a person's nutritional health before heart surgery impacts their recovery. Researchers will assess patients using questionnaires about diet and lifestyle, blood and urine tests, and by measuring grip strength and body composition. The goal is to see if any of these assessments are linked to how long patients stay in intensive care or hospital, and how many complications they experience after surgery. By gathering this information, medical staff hope to learn how to identify patients who might need extra nutritional support before their operation, potentially leading to better recovery outcomes.

At a glance

Status

Recruiting

Sponsor

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Enrolment target

250

Start

20 Aug 2025

Estimated completion

10 Jan 2027

Cardiovascular Diseases

What is this study about?

Imagine you're getting ready for an important event; wouldn't you want to be in the best shape possible? This study is a bit like that, but for people having heart surgery. It's designed to explore how a person's diet and overall nutritional health before their operation might affect their recovery afterwards. The researchers want to understand if being well-nourished, or perhaps less well-nourished, plays a role in how quickly someone recovers, how long they need to stay in hospital, and if they experience any difficulties.

To do this, before your heart surgery, the study team would ask you to complete some questionnaires about your eating habits and lifestyle. They would also take blood and urine samples, measure your grip strength (which can be a sign of overall muscle health), and check your body composition – that's how much fat and muscle you have. They'll also ask about things like your sleep, physical activity, and stress levels, as these can also affect your health.

The main aim is to see if there's a link between these nutritional and lifestyle factors and how you recover from surgery. For example, do patients with a certain diet before surgery tend to spend less time in intensive care? Or do those with stronger grip recover faster? All this information will help doctors and nurses better understand how to spot patients who might benefit from extra nutritional support before their operation, making their journey to recovery smoother.

Key takeaways

Aims to link pre-surgery nutrition to recovery after heart surgery.
No extra visits beyond your routine pre-operative checks.
Involves questionnaires, blood/urine tests, grip strength, and body composition measurements.
Results could help doctors better prepare future patients for surgery.
Participation is voluntary and won't affect your medical care.

Who may be eligible?

Joining this study is quite open. The researchers want to include a wide range of patients to get a true picture of how nutrition affects everyone having heart surgery. So, if you're aged between 40 and 85, you could be considered.

However, there are a couple of situations where you wouldn't be able to take part. Firstly, if you can't understand or speak English well enough to fill out the questionnaires, then unfortunately you wouldn't be able to join. Secondly, you need to be able to give your clear permission, known as 'written consent', to be part of the study.

Quick self-check

Are you between 40 and 85 years old?
Are you having planned heart surgery?
Can you understand and speak English well enough to complete questionnaires?
Are you able to give your written permission to take part?

This is a guide only — the research team will confirm whether you can take part.

What does participation involve?

If you decide to take part in this study, everything will happen before your planned heart surgery. You won't need any extra visits beyond your usual appointments. The study team will assess your nutritional health using several simple steps. You'll fill in some questionnaires about your diet, what you typically eat (like how much processed food or Mediterranean-style food you have), your sleep, physical activity, and stress levels. You'll also have some blood and urine samples taken as part of your routine pre-surgery checks. They will also measure your grip strength and check your body composition (how much fat and muscle you have) using special equipment. There are no additional medications involved. All these assessments typically take place at one point before your surgery. The study itself concludes once these assessments are complete and your surgery takes place, as the outcomes of your surgery will then be observed as part of your standard care.

Potential risks and benefits

Participating in this study might not directly benefit you personally, as it won't change your planned medical care. However, the information gathered could greatly help future patients by improving how doctors identify and support people with nutritional needs before heart surgery. The risks are very low; the blood and urine samples are taken as part of your usual pre-op tests, and the questionnaires and physical measurements are non-invasive. You have the right to withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason, and this will not affect your medical care.

Locations (1)

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Hull, United Kingdom· Recruiting

Common questions

What is the main goal of this study?

The main goal is to understand how a patient's nutrition before heart surgery affects their recovery afterwards.

What kinds of tests will I have?

You'll fill out questionnaires about your diet and lifestyle, have routine blood and urine tests, and we'll measure your grip strength and body composition.

Will taking part change my heart surgery care?

No, participating in this study will not change how your heart surgery or normal care is managed.

Who can join the study?

Most patients aged 40 to 85 who can understand and provide written consent for the questionnaires are suitable.

How long will my involvement take?

All assessments take place at one point before your surgery, usually during your existing pre-operative appointments.

How to find out more

Mahmoud M Loubani, MD

mahmoud.loubani@nhs.net +44 (1482) 624379 Official trial record

Always speak to your GP or specialist before deciding to take part in a study.