Abstract
Background. Malnutrition in hospitalized children can be prevented if children with risk of malnutrition are identified. Every hospital is recommended to have a standard nutritional screening tool. Numerous simple screening tools have been developed, namely Paediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS), Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Paediatrics (STAMP), and Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONG-kids). None has been accepted as a universal tool. Our study aims to determine the best screening tools compared to Subjective Global Nutrition Assessment (SGNA), an assessment tool which is more complex as our gold standard. Methods. This diagnostic study involved 116 patients aged 1–15 years. Three screening tools and SGNA were examined to each subject. Statistical analysis was used to determine sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio (LR) by results from screening tools divided into low and moderate-high risk of malnutrition compared to results from SGNA divided into no and moderate-severe malnutrition. Results. PYMS showed superior agreement to SGNA resulting in sensitivity 95.32%, specificity 76.92%, positive LR 4.13, and negative LR 0.061. STAMP resulted in sensitivity, specificity, positive LR, and negative LR, respectively, as 100%, 11.54%, 1.13, and 0 and STRONG-kids resulted in 100%, 7.7%, 1.083, and 0. Conclusion. PYMS was the most reliable screening tool.
Highlights
Substrates such as food and vitamins are required by children as the materials in daily metabolism
An assessment tool that has been adapted for children, Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment in Children (SGNA), has shown its ability to identify malnourished children, identifying those at higher risk of nutrition-associated complications, and prolonged hospitalizations [12, 13]
A total of 33 children which are considered to be malnourished based on WHO criteria were grouped based on their underlying disease as shown in Table 2, most of who suffered from oncology disorder
Summary
Substrates such as food and vitamins are required by children as the materials in daily metabolism. An assessment tool that has been adapted for children, Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment in Children (SGNA), has shown its ability to identify malnourished children, identifying those at higher risk of nutrition-associated complications, and prolonged hospitalizations [12, 13]. Numerous simple screening tools have been developed, namely Paediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS), Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Paediatrics (STAMP), and Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONG-kids). Our study aims to determine the best screening tools compared to Subjective Global Nutrition Assessment (SGNA), an assessment tool which is more complex as our gold standard. Statistical analysis was used to determine sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio (LR) by results from screening tools divided into low and moderate-high risk of malnutrition compared to results from SGNA divided into no and moderate-severe malnutrition.
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