Abstract:
Nutrition screening triggers entry into the nutrition care
process.1 Screening has informally been described as simple,
quick or low-intensity proxy for more complex procedures.
More formal definitions for the nutrition setting have been
proposed, describing nutrition screening as a process of
identifying patients, clients, or groups who may be at risk of
malnutrition or may already be malnourished to determine
if a detailed nutrition assessment is indicated.2 Nutrition
screening can rely on anthropometric, dietary, clinical and/
or biochemical parameters, can be “general” in nature or
focus on a particular aspect of nutritional status, intended
for a specific target group and/or context. One of the most
important characteristics of a screening tool is its costeffectiveness,
i.e. whether it is able to adequately achieve
its aim with the least resources. To determine whether the
intended aim is achieved, the screening tool’s findings are
typically compared to those of a comprehensive nutrition
assessment, a technique called comparative or relative
validation.
