ABSTRACT
Background: Critically ill (CI) patients, especially those requiring mechanical ventilation (MV) are at a higher risk of malnutrition, which in turn is associated with increased hospitalization and excess mortality. The modified Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (mNUTRIC) score, a predictor of mortality, has not been validated adequately in CI Indian patients. Thus, this study evaluated the mNUTRIC score as a prognostic marker of morbidity and mortality in CI patients requiring MV. Materials and methods: This prospective observational study was performed, between January 2018 and June 2019, in the intensive critical care unit (ICCU) of the medicine department of a tertiary care hospital. A total of 250 patients aged above 12 years, admitted in ICCU, and requiring MV for >48 hours were included. Based on the data collected, mNUTRIC score was calculated and patients were classified as at low (0–4) and high (5–9) nutritional risk. Mortality was the outcome variable. Results: More than a quarter of patients had a high mNUTRIC score (28.4%) and the overall mortality was 35.6%. A significantly greater proportion of non-survivors had a high mNUTRIC score (p-value<0.0001). Likewise, the mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, and mNUTRIC score (all p-values<0.0001) were significantly higher among the non-survivors than the survivors. On receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, a cutoff value of >2 predicted mortality [area under the curve (AUC): 0.83; 95% confidence interval: 0.778–0.874] with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 80.9, 76.4, 65.5, and 87.9%, respectively. Conclusion: At a cutoff of >2, mNUTRIC score had high sensitivity and specificity in the prediction of mortality.