The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends malnutrition screening tool (MST) for all adults
Ingvild Paur, Guro Berge Smedshaug, Brita Haugum, Asta Bye, Erlend Eliassen, Trine Linn Flottorp, Hanne J. Juul, Morten Mowé, Tove Nakken, Stephan Ore, Gry Kirsti Sirevåg, Kari Sygnestveit, Lene Thoresen, Ellinor Bakke Aasen, Torunn Holm Totland, Henriette Walaas Krogh
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Malnutrition is underdiagnosed and undertreated in Norway. In a revision of a national guideline on malnutrition, the Norwegian Directorate of Health aimed for a harmonization and standardization of the malnutrition screening practice, including a recommendation of one malnutrition screening tool to be used among all adults in Norwegian health and care services. METHODS: A working group was appointed by the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Evidence-based practice, a pragmatic decision-making process based on a literature review, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), and the DECIDE decision-making model was used as a guidance in order to convert evidence into recommendations. RESULTS: The criteria and properties of the four most frequently validated malnutrition screening tools were identified and ranked by the working group. The tools were prioritized in the following order: 1: Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST), 2: Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), 3: Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), and 4: Mini-Nutritional Assessment short form (MNA). CONCLUSIONS: The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends use of MST for screening for malnutrition among all adults (≥18 years), across all health care settings, and diagnoses or conditions in Norway.