Saengnipanthkul et al reported a score for identifying a pediatric patient at risk for hospital-acquired malnutrition. Hospital-acquired malnutrition is associated with adverse outcomes. The authors are from Khwon Kaen University. Mahidol University, and affiliated hospitals in Thailand.
Patient selection: hospitalized pediatric patient from 1 month to 18 years of age, with hospital stay >= 72 hours
Parameters:
(1) number of gastrointestinal symptoms
(2) disease severity
(3) fever in °C
(4) lower respiratory tract infection
(5) decreased food intake
Parameter
Finding
Points
number of GI symptoms
none
0
>= 1
1.5
disease severity
mild
0
moderate or severe
2
temperature (fever)
> 39°C
3.5
<= 39°C
0
lower respiratory tract infection
no
0
yes
1
decreased food intake
no
0
yes
1
total score =
= SUM(points for all of the parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 9
• A score >= 2.5 indicated high risk of hospital-acquired malnutrition.
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve is 0.81 for the derivation and 0.85 for the validation cohorts.
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