The validation of a nursing nutritional assessment tool for use on acute elderly wards

Abstract

The tool has not demonstrated reliability as determined by the statistical measures and hence validity at this stage. Issues which need to be addressed to allow this tool to be used appropriately are discussed.

Blood Concentrations of Homocysteine and Methylmalonic Acid among Demented and Non-Demented Swedish Elderly with and without Home Care Services and Vitamin B12 Prescriptions

“…Two Finnish studies found that the majority of elderly Finnish home care patients were undernourished according to Mini Nutritional Assessment [31,32]. BMI and serum albumin are useful biomarkers of the general nutritional status, especially among the elderly [33,34]. The finding that both demented and non-demented subjects with HCS had significantly lower serum albumin than the subjects without supports the notion that HCS in our material does not provide adequate nutrition.…”

Nutritional screening and assessment tools for older adults: literature review

“…1995, Cotton et al. 1996, McCall & Cotton 2001, Söderhamn & Söderhamn 2001). Presence of a pressure ulcer (RCN 1993, Cotton et al.…”

“…1996, Pattison et al. 1999, Mackintosh & Hankey 2001, McCall & Cotton 2001), weight change (Wolinsky et al. 1985, Nikolaus et al.…”

“…1985, Nikolaus et al. 1995, Wright 1999, Mackintosh & Hankey 2001, McCall & Cotton 2001, Söderhamn & Söderhamn 2001) and frequency of periods of time spent ‘nil by mouth’ (McCall & Cotton 2001). Identification of eating problems may be considered (Wolinsky et al.…”

Introducing a nutrition screening tool: an exploratory study in a district general hospital

“…Subsequent to adoption of the Nursing Nutritional Screening Tool, its authors published data ( n = 185) indicating that it has poor construct validity and interprofessional inter‐rater reliability (McCall & Cotton 2001). Low inter‐rater reliability between nurses and dieticians is relatively common (Richardson & Davidson 1996).…”