Malnutrition refers to when someone’s diet cannot provide the needed nutrients for ideal health. Some of the causes of malnutrition are mental health conditions, a low income, poverty, and difficulty in accessing food. Various effects of malnutrition include; a person may have a higher risk of infection, strain in concentrating whether in school or at work, short-and long-term health problems, and delayed recovery from injuries and other diseases. The Joint Commission requires that after patients are admitted to a hospital unit, the hospital is supposed to carry out a nutritional assessment within 24 hours (Keller 2019). Outside the hospital setting, a provider can order or perform the nutritional assessment as indicated by other objective results. In any setting, malnutrition usually has adverse results on health outcomes. Therefore, proper nutrition is stressed in most care plans to assist in curing and managing different chronic conditions, particularly in elderly patients. Malnutrition is a common issue in society, and it can lead to negative health outcomes in people of all ages. Proper identification of malnutrition can help improve health outcomes. The topic for this paper is “What methods can be used to identify those at risk for malnutrition?”
Article Search
Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST)
The Malnutrition Screening tool is relatively easy to use, and it comprises of two significant questions. This tool is designed for use by staff who provide care to older adults or by volunteers. The MST gives a score out of five to indicate the malnutrition risk level (Eglseer et al., 2017). The tool is essential since it can determine what assistance to give to the individual and what follow-up is necessary.
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Question 1: Have you lost weight lately without trying?
This query applies to the last six months.
If the individual is unsure, try asking if their clothes are loose-fitting, or maybe they started using a different belt notch.
The emphasis should be on 'losing weight without trying .'
Question 2: Have you had poor eating habits due to a decreased appetite?
This question also applies to the last six months.
For instance, ask if the individual has been eating less than a quarter of their usual food intake.
The emphasis should be on 'eating poorly.' Generally, this could be caused by poor appetite, but sometimes it could be swallowing difficulties.
Article Findings
Total score
To compute the total score, add the points from questions one and two to get a total. A score of 0-1 points to a low risk of malnutrition. In addition, a score of 2 points moderates the risk of being malnourished. A score of 3-5 points to an individual being at a higher risk of malnutrition.
Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA)
This is a screening tool that aids in detecting elderly patients who are suffering from malnutrition. The MNA offers an easy and quick way to recognize patients who are at a higher risk of suffering malnutrition or individuals who are already malnourished (Liguori et al., 2018). This tool is essential because it detects malnutrition risk before profound changes occur in weight or serum protein levels. It is well validated in international studies. This tool is effective since it correlates with both mortality and morbidity.
Evidence for Practice
Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST)
The fundamental purpose of the MUST system is to recognize patients who are at a higher risk of malnutrition or individuals who are already malnourished. This tool focuses on five steps to help establish malnutrition risk (Almasaudi et al., 2019). It also provides management guidelines that are useful in the development of a good care plan. MUST can be used by volunteers, staff in hospitals, and people in other care settings.
Step 1
Measure the height and the weight to get a BMI score using the charts which are provided.
Step 2
Record the percentage of the unintended weight loss using the tables that are provided.
Step 3
Indicate the acute disease effect score.
Step 4
Add together the results from steps 1, 2, and 3 so as to find out the general risk of malnutrition.
Step 5
Utilize the management guidelines so as to come up with an effective care plan.
Sharing evidence
Simplified Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire (SNAQ)
The tool helps detect people who are at risk of losing weight in the next six months or who are at risk of malnutrition. One of the advantages of SNAQ is that it can be used by untrained personnel, and it does not require any specialized equipment in its administration (Lau et al. 2020). Besides, this tool does not need the user to perform any calculations, and it takes less than 5 minutes to administer. Furthermore, the results of the screening can lead to the development of an effective care plan.
Conclusion
In conclusion, malnutrition can lead to adverse health outcomes and especially in elderly patients. Malnutrition can be assessed by various tools (Almasaudi et al., 2019). Although the occurrence of malnutrition in elderly patients remains low, the risk is high, and therefore, this is something that should be frequently assessed in practice. Healthcare officials should be provided with this knowledge to arm them with a better understanding of malnutrition. This may also prompt the medical team to assess current policies which have been put in place to mitigate this problem.
References
Almasaudi, A. S., McSorley, S. T., Dolan, R. D., Edwards, C. A., & McMillan, D. C. (2019). The relation between Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), computed tomography–derived body composition, systemic inflammation, and clinical outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. The American journal of clinical nutrition , 110 (6), 1327-1334. www.academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/110/6/1327/5570571
Eglseer, D., Halfens, R. J., & Lohrmann, C. (2017). Is the presence of a validated malnutrition screening tool associated with better nutritional care in hospitalized patients? Nutrition , 37 , 104-111. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900716302908
Keller, U. (2019). Nutritional laboratory markers in malnutrition. Journal of clinical medicine , 8 (6), 775. www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/8/6/775
Lau, S., Pek, K., Chew, J., Lim, J. P., Ismail, N. H., Ding, Y. Y., ... & Lim, W. S. (2020). The Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) as a Screening Tool for Risk of Malnutrition: Optimal Cutoff, Factor Structure, and Validation in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults. Nutrients , 12 (9), 2885. www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2885
Liguori, I., Curcio, F., Russo, G., Cellurale, M., Aran, L., Bulli, G., ... & Abete, P. (2018). Risk of malnutrition evaluated by mini nutritional assessment and sarcopenia in noninstitutionalized elderly people. Nutrition in Clinical Practice , 33 (6), 879-886. www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ncp.10022
