Why assess nutritional status?
The goal of nutritional assessment is to identify specific nutrition risk(s) or the clear presence of malnutrition. Nutritional assessments may lead to recommendations for improving nutritional status (e.g., an intervention such as change in diet, enteral or parenteral nutrition, or further medical assessment) or a recommendation for rescreening.1
Nutritional status is not a static condition and just one nutritional assessment is not enough for progressive diseases like cancer. Therefore, continuous screening, nutritional assessments and interventions are necessary for these patients.2
What is being examined?
The assessment is a detailed examination of metabolic, nutritional or functional variables by a nutritional expert like a clinician, dietitian or nutrition nurse.
The current ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients recommend for patients with abnormal screening an objective and quantitative assessment of3:
- nutritional intake,
- nutritional impact symptoms,
- muscle mass,
- physical performance,
- the degree of systemic inflammation
Nutritional assessments
References
1 Mueller C, Compher C, Ellen DM. A.S.P.E.N. clinical guidelines: Nutrition screening, assessment, and intervention in adults. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2011;35(1):16-24.
2 Shahvazi S, Onvani S, Heydari M, Mehrzad V, Nadjarzadeh A, Fallahzadeh H. Assessment of nutritional status using abridged scored patient-generated subjective global assessment in cancer patient. J Cancer Res Ther. 2017;13(3):514-518.
3 Arends J, Bachmann P, Baracos V, Barthelemy N, Bertz H, Bozzetti F, et al. ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients. Clin Nutr. 2017;36(1):11-48.