Nutritional risk screening-a cross-sectional study in a tertiary pediatric hospital

J Tuokkola; J Hilpi; K-L Kolho; H Orell; L Merras-Salmio

doi:10.1186/s41043-019-0166-4

Nutritional risk screening-a cross-sectional study in a tertiary pediatric hospital

J Health Popul Nutr. 2019 Mar 25;38(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s41043-019-0166-4.

Authors

J Tuokkola^{1

2}, J Hilpi³, K-L Kolho⁴, H Orell³, L Merras-Salmio⁵

Affiliations

¹ Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 281, FI-00029 HUH, Helsinki, Finland. jetta.tuokkola@iki.fi.
² Clinical Nutrition Unit, Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. jetta.tuokkola@iki.fi.
³ Clinical Nutrition Unit, Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
⁵ Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 281, FI-00029 HUH, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

Background: All hospitalized patients should be screened for malnutrition risk. No universal method exists for pediatric patients.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study comparing three published malnutrition risk screening tools (PYMS, STAMP, and STRONG_kids), applying them to each inpatient aged 1 month to 17 years over a period of five consecutive weekdays in Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.

Results: Of the eligible patients, 67% (n = 69) participated. We found that 6.2% of the children were acutely malnourished and accurately categorized by the three tools. STRONG_kids showed the highest specificity (100%) and positive predictive value (36%). Acute malnutrition seemed to be associated with longer hospital stay (p = 0.051).

Conclusion: STRONG_kids was the most accurate screening tool for detecting acute malnutrition and was therefore chosen as the screening method in our hospital. Routine screening for the risk of malnutrition in pediatric inpatients is important in detecting at-risk children who would otherwise be left without dietary intervention.

Keywords: Malnutrition; Nutritional risk screening; Pediatric hospital inpatient.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Finland / epidemiology
Hospitals, Pediatric
Humans
Infant
Length of Stay
Male
Malnutrition / epidemiology*
Nutrition Assessment
Risk Assessment
Tertiary Care Centers