Department of Translational Medical Science - Section of Pediatrics, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Ital J Pediatr. 2013 Dec 27;39:81. doi: 10.1186/1824-7288-39-81.
An increased but unpredictable risk of malnutrition is associated with hospitalization, especially in children with chronic diseases. We investigated the applicability of Screening Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids), an instrument proposed to estimate the risk of malnutrition in hospitalized children. We also evaluated the role of age and co-morbidities as risk for malnutrition.
The STRONGkids consists of 4 items providing a score that classifies a patient in low, moderate, high risk for malnutrition. A prospective observational multi-centre study was performed in 12 Italian hospitals. Children 1-18 years consecutively admitted and otherwise unselected were enrolled. Their STRONGkids score was obtained and compared with the actual nutritional status expressed as BMI and Height for Age SD-score.
Of 144 children (75 males, mean age 6.5 ± 4.5 years), 52 (36%) had an underlying chronic disease. According to STRONGkids, 46 (32%) children were at low risk, 76 (53%) at moderate risk and 22 (15%) at high risk for malnutrition. The latter had significantly lower Height for Age values (mean SD value -1.07 ± 2.08; p = 0.008) and BMI values (mean SD-values -0.79 ± 2.09; p = 0.0021) in comparison to other groups. However, only 29 children were actually malnourished.
The STRONGkids is easy to administer. It is highly sensitive but not specific. It may be used as a very preliminary screening tool to be integrated with other clinical data in order to reliably predict the risk of malnutrition.
住院期间，尤其是患有慢性病的儿童，营养不良的风险增加且不可预测。我们研究了 Screening Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth（STRONGkids）的适用性，该工具用于评估住院儿童的营养不良风险。我们还评估了年龄和合并症作为营养不良风险的作用。
STRONGkids 由 4 个项目组成，提供一个评分，将患者分为低、中、高营养不良风险。这是一项前瞻性、多中心研究，在意大利 12 家医院进行。连续收治的 1-18 岁且无其他选择的患儿入选。获得他们的 STRONGkids 评分，并将其与 BMI 和身高年龄标准差评分表示的实际营养状况进行比较。
144 名儿童（75 名男性，平均年龄 6.5±4.5 岁）中，52 名（36%）患有基础慢性病。根据 STRONGkids，46 名（32%）儿童为低危，76 名（53%）为中危，22 名（15%）为高危营养不良。后者的身高年龄值明显较低（平均标准差值-1.07±2.08；p=0.008），BMI 值也较低（平均标准差值-0.79±2.09；p=0.0021）。然而，实际上只有 29 名儿童营养不良。
STRONGkids 易于管理。它具有很高的敏感性，但特异性不高。它可以用作非常初步的筛选工具，与其他临床数据相结合，以可靠地预测营养不良的风险。
