A prospective cross-sectional-comparative analysis of nutrition screening and assessment tools in chinese nasopharyngeal carcinoma inpatients undergoing radiotherapy using Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria as the gold standard.

OBJECTIVES

The aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of four different nutrition screening and evaluation instruments in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, benchmarked against Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria.

METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN

An observational, single-institution study was conducted between June 2022 and May 2023. Nutrition status was assessed using Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST), Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), and GLIM criteria at two time points: postadmission and predischarge. Metrics such as sensitivity, specificity, concordance, and Kappa coefficient were computed.

RESULTS

For the trial, 140 participants were enrolled. Based on GLIM criteria, the rate of undernutrition was 22.9% before radiation and 73.6% after it ended. NRS-2002 (k = 0.721) demonstrated substantial concordance with GLIM criteria at admission, followed by MUST (k = 0.604) and MST (k = 0.378). Kappa coefficients were reduced at discharge (NRS-2002: k = 0.696; MUST: k = 0.690; MST: k = 0.496). GLIM criteria were moderately consistent with PG-SGA at admission (k = 0.453) and slightly consistent at discharge (k = 0.136).

CONCLUSIONS

NRS-2002 demonstrated greater concordance with GLIM criteria than MUST and MST. Therefore, NRS-2002 could be a more appropriate choice for initial nutrition screening in the diagnostic framework of GLIM for individuals afflicted with nasopharyngeal cancer, both before and after radiotherapy. The alignment of GLIM criteria with PG-SGA in identifying undernourished patients varied from slight to moderate.