CONUT: a tool to assess nutritional status. First application in a primary care population

Abstract

ObjectivesMalnutrition is an unfavorable prognostic factor associated with an increase in mortality, hospital stays, readmissions and resources consumption. The aim was to screen primary care patients for risk of malnutrition by using the control nutritional (CONUT) score, calculated through total lymphocytes count, serum albumin and total cholesterol, when the three markers were requested, and to compare results between primary care centers (PCC).MethodsThe clinical laboratory located in a 370-bed suburban University Community Hospital serves the Health Department inhabitants (2,34,551), attended in nine PCC. The laboratory information system (LIS) automatically calculated the CONUT score in every primary care patient over 18 years old, when all three laboratory markers were ordered by the General Practitioner. For all primary care patients, we collected demographic data, CONUT index and PCC. We classified results by PCC, and compared them.ResultsThe clinical laboratory received 74,743 requests from primary care. The CONUT score was calculated in 7,155 (12.28%) patients. Nine hundred seventy-six (13.6%) were at risk of malnutrition according to the CONUT score, mainly male (p<0.01) and over 65 (p<0.01). Detected cases of malnutrition were all mild, except 48 patients (4.9%) with moderate, and one (0.1%) with severe risk. The percentage of patients at risk of malnutrition was not significantly different among PCC, with the exception of one with patients at lower malnutrition risk.ConclusionsIt is possible to use CONUT score as a front-line population-wide laboratory marker to screen for the risk for malnutrition in primary care patients that was lower in one PCC.

Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) Score as a Predictive Marker in Hospitalized Frail Elderly Patients

“…Nutritional status can be assessed using several screening tools [8]. Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) is an easy, user-friendly, and reproducible nutritional screening score based on serum albumin, total cholesterol concentration and total lymphocyte count, which has been shown to predict mortality in hospitalized elderly patients [9][10][11]. It was first presented as an immune-nutritional score-a screening tool allowing the automatic daily assessment of nutritional status of all inpatients that undergo routine analysis [12].…”

Value of the Controlling Nutritional Status score in predicting the prognosis of patients with lung cancer: A multicenter, retrospective study

“…The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is a relatively new immune‐nutrition–related index. It evaluates serum albumin levels, total lymphocyte counts, and total cholesterol (TC) content; these represent the body's nutrition status, immune function, and lipid metabolism parameters, respectively 10 . The CONUT score has gained increasing attention because it is clinically easy to calculate and correlates with subjective overall assessments and overall nutrition assessments 11 .…”

“…It evaluates serum albumin levels, total lymphocyte counts, and total cholesterol (TC) content; these represent the body's nutrition status, immune function, and lipid metabolism parameters, respectively. 10 The CONUT score has gained increasing attention because it is clinically easy to calculate and correlates with subjective overall assessments and overall nutrition assessments. 11 The CONUT score can be used as a useful indicator for evaluating prognosis in some solid tumors, such as gastric cancer, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer.…”

Nutritional status assessed by the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score as a predictor of recurrence of urolithiasis

“…Comprehensive nutritional indexes, such as the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), have been developed and are widely used to evaluate nutritional status [ 14 15 ]. The CONUT score is an easily measured tool for the early detection and ongoing monitoring of nutritional status that is based on serum albumin concentration (an indicator of protein reserves), total cholesterol level (a caloric depletion parameter), and lymphocyte count (an indicator of immune defense) [ 16 ]. A decrease in each component is assigned a high score; therefore, a higher score indicates undernourished status.…”