Tri Marta Fadhilah, S.Pd., M.Gizi. Pengarang

Background: Patients with tuberculosis need foods that contain lots of protein and albumin such as cork fish and chicken egg white without yolk to speed up the repair of cells and tissues damaged by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis bacteria. Objective: The study was conducted to determine the increase in blood albumin levels and body weight in patients with tuberculosis by giving cork fish and egg white snacks. Methods: This study is an experimental study involving 40 respondents who were randomly selected and divided into intervention and control groups. Each respondent in the intervention group received 2 types of snacks (1 brownies and 1 pastels) every day for 15 days (the ratio of cork fish and egg white used was 100gr:70gr), while the control group did not get snacks. To see an increase in albumin levels and body weight in the intervention group before and after the intervention, paired t-test was used, while to see the comparison between the intervention and control groups, an unpaired t-test was used. Results: The results showed that of all respondents (men aged between 15-80 years), there was an average increase in body weight of +0.25 kg (the average before the intervention was 46.05 kg and the average after the intervention was 47.3 kg). In addition, there was an increase in the mean initial albumin level of +1.7 g/L (mean value before intervention was 41.8 g/L while after intervention was 43.5 g/L). The results of the t-test analysis showed that there was a significant difference (p=0.002) between the increase in blood albumin levels in the intervention group and the control group, and a significant difference (p=0.004) between the increase in body weight in the intervention and control groups after the 15-day snack intervention. Conclusion: There was an increase in blood albumin levels and body weight in patients with tuberculosis after treatment for 15 days. Keywords: Albumin; Body Weight; Snack; Tuberculosis