Grading the severity of disease – a key component for nutritional screening in the hospital?

Introduction: The grading of severity of disease is a central element of many nutritional screening tools. However, evaluation of the severity of disease can be difficult for the nursing staff or the dietitian. The aim of this study was to investigate if this assessment is essential for a valid and significant nutritional risk screening in inpatients at admission. Material and methods: 1000 randomly selected, consecutive adult patients admitted to the departments of internal medicine, neurology or otorhinolaryngology were included in the study. All patients were assessed by Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool…