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Introduction
Most inpatients depend on the hospital menu to meet their nutritional needs in developed countries (Allison, 2003). The menu is usually constructed by the dietetic and foodservice departments and is comprised of a range of therapeutic diets catering for the varied nutritional needs of patients. The menu informs patients of the meal choices available each day. It provides the “first impression” of foodservices (Alkire, 1995) and therefore has a role in creating expectations and eliciting interest in consuming hospital food. Adequate nutrition is especially important in the acute care hospital setting where 20-50 per cent of patients are malnourished (Watterson et al., 2009). Traditionally hospital menus have been implemented using a paper-based system where printed menus are manually distributed and meal orders collected and processed by foodservice staff. Advances in technology have seen the introduction of newer computerised systems where patients can view and order their meals using a bedside ordering system (Mibey and Williams, 2002).
Patient satisfaction with foodservice must be evaluated in order to provide a high quality service that is able to meet consumers’ needs (Wright et al., 2006). Research has shown foodservice often rates well for patient satisfaction (O’Hara et al., 1997; Lassen et al., 2005) and the majority of patients consider food and food-related service to be important to their hospitalisation (DeLuco and Cremer, 1990). Foodservice staff are positively regarded (Johns et al., 2010) and they can influence patient satisfaction with foodservice (Wright et al., 2006; Dubé et al., 1994). Despite these positive ratings, plate waste remains a problem. Plate waste is “served food that remains uneaten by patients” (Williams and Walton, 2011) and has been reported to be up to 67 per cent in hospitals (Edwards and Nash, 1997). Increased plate waste reduces the likelihood of patients meeting their nutritional requirements (Edwards and Nash, 1999), leading to poorer clinical outcomes and increased hospital costs (Correia and Waitzberg, 2003).
Although the menu is a fundamental component of the foodservice system, the extent of research on hospital menus investigating their effect on clinical and non-clinical outcomes is unknown. For the purpose of this review, clinical outcomes related directly to the patient or patient experience, incorporating measures of intake, patient satisfaction and perception. Non-clinical...