The Pediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score Is a Reliable Malnutrition Screening Tool

Abstract

ABSTRACTChildren often experience malnutrition while they are hospitalized. Therefore, the prevention of malnutrition and nutritional management need to be done properly using malnutrition screening tools. This study aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the Pediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS) and the Screening Tool for the Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids) when compared to the Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment for Children (SGNA). This study involved 81 pediatric patients with ages ranging from 1 to 16 years old. The two screening tools and the SGNA were examined in each subject. The results of this study determined that the sensitivity and specificity of the PYMS were 95.7% and 66.7%, respectively, while in the STRONGkids they were 52.2% and 41.7%, respectively. This indicates that the PYMS is the most appropriate malnutrition screening tool to be used for a malnutrition screening policy.