Objectives: To verify the accuracy measures of certain clinical indicators for the diagnosis of "Imbalanced Nutrition: More than Body Requirements" in pregnant women.
Design and sample: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and exploratory study. In total, 146 pregnant women treated in the public health unit in northeast Brazil.
Measures: Data were collected through structured interviews and by measuring the body mass index and the thickness of the triceps skin fold. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of these clinical indicators were also analyzed.
Results: The clinical indicators of patients with this diagnosis were sedentary lifestyle (97.1%); eating in response to internal suggestions (86.98%); obesity/overweight; and triceps skin fold (>25 mm) (99.3%). Eating in response to external suggestions was the most specific clinical indicator (70.1%). There was a statistically significant association between eating in response to internal suggestions besides hunger (p = .022), overweight/obesity (p < .001) ,and triceps skin fold >25 mm (p = .014).
Conclusion: The clinical indicator with the highest sensitivity value (86.96%) for the diagnosis of imbalanced nutrition: greater than body requirements was eating in response to internal suggestions besides hunger. Indicators with the higher specificity value for this nursing diagnosis were obesity/overweight (98.73%) and triceps skin fold >25 mm (98.59%).
© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.