Development of the Chinese nutrition screen (CNS) for use in institutional settings.

OBJECTIVES

To develop and validate a nutritional screening tool (CNS) for elderly Chinese subjects in the institutional setting.

DESIGN

Using the MNA as a guide, a questionnaire was developed appropriate for the Chinese health care system, diet, food customs and culture, using physician assessment for comparison.

PARTICIPANTS

200 men and 200 women aged 65 years or older, approximately equally distributed by age between two cities in China (Hong Kong and Shanghai), were recruited from hospitals and old age homes for the reliability study. 340 men and 527 women were recruited for the validity study.

RESULTS

The CNS compared with physician assessments based on two groups, normal or at risk with less than normal nutritional status, had kappa coefficients of 0.5 overall and were as high as 0.8 in Shanghai. CNS was able to identify about 90% of all persons with normal nutritional status and had about a 60% chance of correctly identifying a person at risk with a less than normal nutritional status.

CONCLUSION

The CNS can be used in a 2-group classification to identify those who have a normal nutritional status (CNS > or = 21). Those who do not fall into this group should have their nutritional status evaluated in greater detail (CNS score < or = 20). The applicability of screening tools may vary depending on the site and the population characteristics.