Which factor most strongly predicts poor wound healing besides smoking?

Which factor most strongly predicts poor wound healing besides smoking?

• A. Diabetes
• B. Age
• C. Malnutrition
• D. Smoking

Answer: (C)

Adequate nutritional status is essential for wound healing because it provides the building blocks and energy needed for collagen synthesis, fibroblast proliferation, angiogenesis, and immune defense. When someone is malnourished, protein-energy deficits impair collagen production and tissue strength, slow cell turnover, and weaken immune function, all of which delay wound closure and increase infection risk. Smoking worsens healing by reducing oxygen delivery, but among non-smoker-related factors, malnutrition most directly cripples the body's ability to repair tissue. Diabetes and aging also affect healing—diabetes through microvascular disease and infection risk, aging through generalized declines in cellular function—but their impact is less universally foundational than the lack of sufficient nutrients. Hence, malnutrition is the strongest predictor of poor wound healing besides smoking.

Adequate nutritional status is essential for wound healing because it provides the building blocks and energy needed for collagen synthesis, fibroblast proliferation, angiogenesis, and immune defense. When someone is malnourished, protein-energy deficits impair collagen production and tissue strength, slow cell turnover, and weaken immune function, all of which delay wound closure and increase infection risk. Smoking worsens healing by reducing oxygen delivery, but among non-smoker-related factors, malnutrition most directly cripples the body's ability to repair tissue. Diabetes and aging also affect healing—diabetes through microvascular disease and infection risk, aging through generalized declines in cellular function—but their impact is less universally foundational than the lack of sufficient nutrients. Hence, malnutrition is the strongest predictor of poor wound healing besides smoking.