• Murat Y Ozkalkanli, Dila Tuna Ozkalkanli, Kaan Katircioglu, and Serdar Savaci.
• Izmir Ataturk Training and Research Hospital, Izmir Ataturk Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi Anesteziyoloji ve Reanimasyon Klinigi, Basinsitesi, Izmir, Turkey 35000. ozkalkan@yahoo.com
• Nutr Clin Pract. 2009 Apr 1;24(2):274-80.

BackgroundMalnutrition in hospitalized patients is a significant problem. The purpose of this study was to compare 2 assessment tools-the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) and subjective global assessment (SGA)-in predicting development of complications in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.MethodsNutrition status was assessed by the SGA, and nutrition screening was performed using the NRS 2002 in 256 consecutively admitted patients scheduled for orthopedic surgery. Additional information recorded for all patients included age, gender, body mass index, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status. Patient outcomes (postoperative complications), mortality rate, and length of hospital stay (LOS) were investigated.ResultsMalnourished or nutritionally at-risk patients were significantly older than nonmalnourished or not at-risk patients according to the SGA and NRS 2002. Also, ASA physical status was correlated with malnutrition or malnutrition risk. Malnourished and at-risk patients in both the SGA and NRS 2002 groups showed longer LOS and higher morbidity and mortality rates. Sensitivity was 50% with the SGA and 69% with the NRS 2002; specificity was 77% with the SGA and 80% with the NRS 2002. Agreement between 2 methods was 0.672. The odds ratio for the association between malnutrition or risk of malnutrition and the occurrence of complications was 3.5 (1.7-7.1) for the SGA and 4.1 (2.0-8.5) for NRS 2002.ConclusionsAge and ASA physical status are risk factors for malnutrition. In patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, NRS 2002 predicted development of complications better than the SGA. Malnutrition also increased length of hospital stay.

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