Pediatric Nutritional screening Tools used in P-INPAC

P-INPAC recommends the use of a validated pediatric malnutrition screening tool, such as STRONGkids (A)¹⁴ or PNST (B) ¹⁵. These 2 tools have previously been used in studies in the Canadian setting^{16, 17}.

A. Screening Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids)¹⁴

This nutritional screening tool was developed in the Netherlands to be performed within 24 h of admission in children aged 1 month to 18 years. It is comprised of questions covering 4 areas and does not include actual measurements.

 LINK TO TOOL

• Areas covered:

1. Subjective clinical assessment
2. High risk disease
3. Nutritional intake and losses
4. Weight loss or poor weight gain

Risk levels are then assigned by point totals: 0 = low risk, 1-3 = medium risk, and 4-5 = high risk.

• For P-INPAC it is advised to use 4-5 points (high risk) as the cut-off for labeling a child at risk with need for further assessment.
• The tool can be completed by nursing staff or any health care professional as part of the admission process.
• It takes < 5 minutes to complete.

B. Pediatric Nutrition Screening Tool (PNST)¹⁵

This screening tool was developed in Australia and aims to identify hospital inpatients at nutritional risk. The tool consists of four simple questions to assist in the clinical diagnosis of patients up to 16 years.

 LINK TO TOOL

• Areas Covered: 

1. Nutritional intake
2. Unintentional weight loss
3. Poor weight gain
4. Looking underweight

Nutrition screen is positive in case of “yes” to at least 2 questions. There is no classification into moderate or high risk.

• For P-INPAC it is advised to use a positive screen for labeling a child at risk with need for further assessment.
• Can be completed by any health care professional as part of the admission process, do not need an expertise in nutrition assessment.
• Takes < 3 minutes to complete

Other Pediatric Malnutrition screening Tools:

There are other validated nutritional screening tools available for general pediatric hospital patients.  These tools, including links and references are described HERE.

There are also malnutrition screening tools available for specific age groups, settings and diseases. References that describe these studies can be found HERE.