de Jong P C, Wesdorp R I, Volovics A, Roufflart M, Greep J M, Soeters P B
Department of Surgery, St Annadal Hospital, University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Clin Nutr. 1985 May;4(2):61-6. doi: 10.1016/0261-5614(85)90043-3.
Several studies have attempted to define nutritional parameters that can be used to select malnourished hospitalised patients for nutritional support. A combination of objective nutritional parameters was evaluated in a group of 50 patients selected for total parenteral nutrition on clinical grounds only and compared with a control group. This control group consisted of 38 patients who were admitted for elective minor surgical procedures such as varicectomy and hernia repair. On a subset of 18 objective nutritional measurements, discriminant analysis was performed. In the evaluation it was shown that a combination of albumin (ALB), prealbumin (PALB), total lymphocyte count (TLC) and the percentage of ideal weight (PIW) was the most useful combination of nutritional tests in discriminating a chosen malnourished (M) group and a control group who were declared not malnourished (NM). With this combination the patients were correctly classified in 93% with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 94%.
