Interrater reliability of routine screening for risk of malnutrition with the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form in hospital

Abstract

Background/objectives The Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) is the recommended screening tool for older persons. Data on interrater reliability in clinical routine are rare. Thus, we wanted to quantify the interrater reliability of the MNA-SF in hospital. Subjects/methods This observational cross-sectional study was undertaken retrospectively. The study population comprised 105 participants. Risk of malnutrition was measured twice with the routine MNA-SF performed by nurses (within 24 h after admission) and a dedicated dietician (one to three days after the first MNA-SF). The MNA-SF score was analyzed for interrater reliability between nurse and dietician. Results Participants’ mean age was 82.4 (±7.1) years and 71 (68%) were women. The mean total MNA-SF score was 7.4 (±2.4) assessed by dietician and 7.8 (±2.3) assessed by nurse. The intra-class correlation coefficient between the total MNA-SF scores was 0.74 (0.61; 0.82), indicating moderate reliability. For the MNA-SF nutritional status, Cohens Kappa was 0.37 (p < 0.05) showing a fair agreement. Conclusion Multiple misclassifications were observed between malnutrition and risk of malnutrition. Because mean scores were near the border between malnutrition and risk of malnutrition, we recommend to consider the total MNA-SF score in addition to the three risk groups to assess nutritional risk in geriatric hospital patients.

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