Clinical audit on adherence to using Malnutrition Screening Tool and dietitian referral in the Oncology Outpatient Clinic, National Cancer Institute, Malaysia

@# Introduction: Malnutrition is a frequent complication in cancer patients and can negatively affect treatment outcome. Preliminary audit conducted at the Oncology Clinic, National Cancer Institute (NCI), found that only 5.8% of outpatients underwent nutrition screening using the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST), and only 2.6% of dietitian referrals were recorded. This audit aims to determine the rate of adherence to nutritional screening, and to implement remedial measures for improved patient care. Methods: This was a cross-sectional audit comprising three phases, namely initial audit, remedial measures and re-audit. Criteria audited include screening rate using MST and dietitian referral based on MST scores. Standards were set at 100% for both criteria. Data collected for initial audit were patients’ MST scores records and total dietitian referral forms retrieved from Electronic Medical Records. After initial audit, self-administered questionnaires for nurses and physicians were developed to identify barriers. Measures implemented for change included patientadministered MST to shorten screening time, and procedure flowchart to facilitate referral. After 6 months, a re-audit was conducted. Results: Total subjects for initial audit and re-audit were 349 and 390, respectively. Initial audit and re-audit showed screening rate using MST increased significantly from 6.3% to 79.5%, but there was no significant change for the dietitian referral rate. Conclusion: This clinical audit has led to a change in the policy in NCI outpatient clinics whereby nurses directly schedule dietitian referrals without going through physicians for patients with MST scores ≥2. Continuous audit and monitoring are necessary to facilitate improvement in MST implementation for better outpatient care.

Análisis de riesgo de desnutrición en pacientes internados en el Hospital Interzonal General de Agudos “Prof. Dr. Ramón Carrillo” / Analysis of malnutrition risk in hospitalized patients at “Prof. Dr. Ramón Carrillo” Regional General Hospital

La desnutrición causa alteraciones en la estructura y función de órganos y sistemas, aumentando la morbilidad, mortalidad y costos de internación. Objetivos: Determinar la prevalencia del riesgo de desnutrición en pacientes hospitalizados. Evaluar la relación entre el riesgo nutricional, la edad, el género y el servicio de internación. Materiales y Método: Se realizó un estudio transversal analítico. Mediante el Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) se evaluó a 272 pacientes internados en el HIGA Prof. Dr. Ramón Carrillo, entre julio del 2013 a enero del 2014. Resultados: La edad media fue de 58.9 años (±20.5). El 31.7% de los pacientes presentó riesgo nutricional. El género femenino se asoció significativamente a riesgo nutricional (p <0.002) y los sujetos de 65 años o más tuvieron la misma asociación (p <0.001). La frecuencia de riesgo nutricional fue mayor al doble en el servicio de clínica médica con respecto al resto de los servicios de internación (OR = 2.60). Conclusión: Es necesario realizar una valoración del riesgo nutricional al ingreso de los pacientes al nosocomio, identificar los factores asociados al riesgo de desnutrición y definir un tratamiento nutricional adecuado que mejore el pronóstico clínico y los costos de la estadía hospitalaria de esos pacientes. El MST es una herramienta de tamizaje simple y efectiva para dichos objetivos.

Sensitivity, Specificity, Predictive Value and Inter-Rater Reliability of Malnutrition Screening Tools in Hospitalised Adult Patients

Nutrition screening is recommended as a first step of nutrition care to allow early identification and intervention of malnourished patients. The present study determined the validities and reliabilities of two malnutrition screening tools namely, the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) among adult patients at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Methods: The sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of MUST and MST were conducted against the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), anthropometric parameters including body mass index (BMI), calf circumference (CC),mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and energy intake. Inter-rater reliability was evaluated using kappa value (κ) to determine the level of agreement between raters. Results: A total of 151 subjects with mean age of 45.2 ± 13.7 years participated in this study. Prevalence of malnutrition according to MUST, MST and SGA was 34.4%, 33.8% and 19.9%, respectively. As compared to SGA, MUST and MST had a sensitivity of 96.6% and 93.3% respectively, whereas the specificity was 80.9% for both tools. The sensitivity and specificity of MUST against the anthropometric parameters (BMI, CC and MUAC) were between 53.8% to 88.8% and 67.4% to 69.9%, respectively. The sensitivity values for MST were between 46.1% to 63.6% and specificity values were between 64.4% to 67.6%. The inter-rater reliability of MUST was higher (substantial, mean (κ) = 0.78) than for MST (moderate, mean (κ) = 0.52). Conclusions: In conclusion, MUST was found to have similar validity levels but higher reliability result than MST. Based on our result, MUST is recommended for use in identifying adult patients who are at high risk of malnutrition. It can be used as a malnutrition screening tool but there is a need to evaluate the cost effectiveness of its implementation.