Malnutrition screening tools help healthcare professionals assess a patient’s risk of malnutrition quickly and objectively. The screening includes measuring height and weight, asking questions, and assigning a score. A high score can lead to referral to a nutritionist or social worker. Clinicians can add notes to provide context and should consider special circumstances, such as eating disorders.
A malnutrition screening tool is a rubric that healthcare professionals can use to quickly assess a patient’s risk of malnutrition. It standardizes patient assessments to reduce a patient’s risk of malnutrition or its complications, and also creates a score that the doctor can enter into the patient record. The score allows other care providers to monitor the patient in the future, as it is an objective measure rather than a subjective comment such as “the patient looks thin”.
There are a number of malnutrition screening tools available, and medical facilities usually pick one and ask all staff to use it. Screening typically includes measuring the patient’s height and weight, asking the patient a few questions, and writing down the results. The doctor can follow a flowchart to assign a score. If a patient has unexpected weight loss, the doctor can determine whether the patient is associated with illness, malnutrition, or another problem and will use this to determine the most appropriate score.
Ratings from a malnutrition screening tool can range from very low risk, indicating that a patient appears healthy and is receiving appropriate nutrition, to active malnutrition requiring treatment. When a patient scores high, the doctor can refer the patient to a nutritionist and perform a more thorough medical evaluation to learn more about why the patient is not getting enough nutrition. The doctor may also consider working with a social worker, as malnutrition may be the result of food insecurity rather than disease, and the patient may need help accessing benefit programs that may pay for food.
Familiarity with a malnutrition screening tool can speed the process. The doctor may be able to unobtrusively gather the necessary information, which can make the patient feel more comfortable. Patients may feel concerned or left out if they think their doctors are testing them for malnutrition, even though this is a routine part of patient intake that a facility typically requires for all new admissions.
Sometimes a malnutrition screening tool isn’t entirely accurate. Every patient is slightly different, and special circumstances can be difficult to explain. In this setting, the clinician can add a note to the numerical score to provide more context. Clinicians also need to consider how to manage screening when a patient has an eating disorder. The clinician should use the malnutrition screening tool for patient safety, but asking questions about weight and eating habits could cause a patient to relapse or become emotionally distressed.
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