Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study
Summary: Background and aim: Early identification of nutritional risk is essential in the care of hospitalized children. Although several screening tools exist, evidence on their performance in identifying at-risk patients and predicting nutrition-related outcomes remains limited, especially in non...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-10-01
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| Series: | Clinical Nutrition Open Science |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667268525000841 |
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| author | Maria Camila Arbeláez Grajales Dianna Ramírez-Prada Frank Carrera-Gil |
| author_facet | Maria Camila Arbeláez Grajales Dianna Ramírez-Prada Frank Carrera-Gil |
| author_sort | Maria Camila Arbeláez Grajales |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Background and aim: Early identification of nutritional risk is essential in the care of hospitalized children. Although several screening tools exist, evidence on their performance in identifying at-risk patients and predicting nutrition-related outcomes remains limited, especially in non-Caucasian populations. This protocol outlines the rationale and methods to assess the concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients. Methods: This prospective diagnostic accuracy study will enroll at least 204 patients aged 2–17 years, consecutively admitted to the emergency department of a tertiary pediatric hospital in Colombia and expected to remain hospitalized for ≥3 days. Within 48 hours of admission, nutritional risk will be assessed using STRONGkids, PYMS, and WHO criteria, alongside the Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment (SGNA) as the reference standard. The primary outcome is the concurrent validity of each screening tool to detect disease-related malnutrition, assessed via sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios, and Kappa coefficient. Secondary outcomes include time to complete each tool and associations between baseline nutritional status, clinical outcomes, and sociodemographic variables. Predictive validity will be analyzed through ROC curves and area under the curve (AUC) values for each tool using a composite adverse outcome: ICU admission, hospital stay ≥7 days, in-hospital mortality within 30 days, and infectious complications. Discussion: This study will generate prospective evidence on the diagnostic accuracy of widely used pediatric screening tools, using an appropriate reference method. Findings may help identify the most effective tool for early nutritional risk detection in underrepresented pediatric populations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8aff6bc4806e4b3d81d0059f01cf61bb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-2685 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clinical Nutrition Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-8aff6bc4806e4b3d81d0059f01cf61bb2025-08-20T03:41:34ZengElsevierClinical Nutrition Open Science2667-26852025-10-016319220010.1016/j.nutos.2025.07.012Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational studyMaria Camila Arbeláez Grajales0Dianna Ramírez-Prada1Frank Carrera-Gil2Programa de Nutrición y Dietética. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Seccional Cali, Cali 760021, ColombiaServicio de Nutrición. Hospital Infantil Los Angeles, Pasto 520003, Colombia; Corresponding author.Departamento de Alimentación y Nutrición, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Seccional Cali, Cali 760021, Colombia; Corresponding author.Summary: Background and aim: Early identification of nutritional risk is essential in the care of hospitalized children. Although several screening tools exist, evidence on their performance in identifying at-risk patients and predicting nutrition-related outcomes remains limited, especially in non-Caucasian populations. This protocol outlines the rationale and methods to assess the concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients. Methods: This prospective diagnostic accuracy study will enroll at least 204 patients aged 2–17 years, consecutively admitted to the emergency department of a tertiary pediatric hospital in Colombia and expected to remain hospitalized for ≥3 days. Within 48 hours of admission, nutritional risk will be assessed using STRONGkids, PYMS, and WHO criteria, alongside the Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment (SGNA) as the reference standard. The primary outcome is the concurrent validity of each screening tool to detect disease-related malnutrition, assessed via sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios, and Kappa coefficient. Secondary outcomes include time to complete each tool and associations between baseline nutritional status, clinical outcomes, and sociodemographic variables. Predictive validity will be analyzed through ROC curves and area under the curve (AUC) values for each tool using a composite adverse outcome: ICU admission, hospital stay ≥7 days, in-hospital mortality within 30 days, and infectious complications. Discussion: This study will generate prospective evidence on the diagnostic accuracy of widely used pediatric screening tools, using an appropriate reference method. Findings may help identify the most effective tool for early nutritional risk detection in underrepresented pediatric populations.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667268525000841Nutritional riskScreeningHospitalMalnutritionPediatric |
| spellingShingle | Maria Camila Arbeláez Grajales Dianna Ramírez-Prada Frank Carrera-Gil Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study Clinical Nutrition Open Science Nutritional risk Screening Hospital Malnutrition Pediatric |
| title | Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study |
| title_full | Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study |
| title_fullStr | Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study |
| title_short | Concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients: Protocol for a single-center, prospective, observational study |
| title_sort | concurrent and predictive validity of nutritional screening tools in hospitalized pediatric patients protocol for a single center prospective observational study |
| topic | Nutritional risk Screening Hospital Malnutrition Pediatric |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667268525000841 |
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