Compleat® Peptide 1.5 formula with fruit and vegetable ingredients was found to be associated with significant reductions in GI intolerance symptoms.

Introduction

Enteral nutrition (EN) is the standard of care for patients with a functional gastrointestinal (GI) tract who are unable to meet nutrition goals by mouth. For patients with intolerance to standard polymeric enteral formulas, peptide-based EN containing hydrolyzed protein, specifically designed to enhance digestion and absorption, may be indicated.^1-3 There is a growing body of evidence supporting improved GI tolerance with either peptide-based EN or formulas containing real fruit and vegetable ingredients.^3,4 However, there is a paucity of evidence on plant- and peptide-based EN also containing real fruit and vegetable ingredients.

Objectives

To examine the clinical outcomes related to GI intolerance in adults in the post-acute care setting receiving a plant-based peptide EN formula containing real fruit and vegetable ingredients.

Methods

This retrospective study of de-identified data was conducted using nationally representative US claims data from the Clarivate Real World Evidence Data Repository, which links medical and prescription claims and electronic health records to provide longitudinal patient-level data representative of more than 300 million patients in the United States (US). This repository covers 98% of US health plans. Post-acute care adults (≥14 years) prescribed a plant-based peptide (hydrolyzed pea protein) EN formula containing real fruit and vegetable ingredients (Compleat® Peptide 1.5, Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, US; [PPF]) between January 2020 and December 2022 were included. The index date was defined as the date of hospital discharge, the pre-index period was defined as 6 months prior to the index date, and the post-index periods as 1, 3 and 6 months (24, 84 and 168 days, respectively) after the index date. GI intolerance symptoms at pre-and post-index periods were compared with results presented as mean (SD) or n (%) and comparisons conducted using a Chi-squared test.

Patient Characteristics

The study included 82 adult patients (56% female; mean age 49 (SD±20.5 years) representative of all US regions. Among the 75 patients (91%) with pre-index comorbidities, the most common conditions were cancer (39%), chronic pulmonary disease (29%), paraplegia and hemiplegia (24%) and mild liver disease (24%). The mean (SD) Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI)⁵ weighted score was 7.2 (4.6), and 56% of patients with comorbidities had a CCI ≥3. The most common medications prescribed pre-index were central nervous system agents (59%), GI drugs (39%) and anti-infective agents (36%).