Clinical Nutrition ESPEN · Nov 15, 2019

Use of the modified "Nutrition Risk in the critically ill" score and its association with the death of critically ill patients

By Brascher JMM, Peres WAF, Padilha PC

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application of the modified NUTRIC score in screening for nutritional risk in intensive care patients and its association with death. RESEARCH METHODS & PROCEDURES: Observational, longitudinal, prospective study conducted between February 2017 and January 2018 with 83 patients of both sexes and over 20 years of age from the ICUs of a private hospital. All inpatients were eligible, except: patients with exogenous intoxication, with a length of stay of less than 24 h, and surgical patients. The mNUTRIC score was applied in the first 24 h of admission. Those with an mNUTRIC score of ≥5 were classified as being at risk. RESULTS: Of the total number of participants, 51.8% (n = 43) were male and 48.2% (n = 40) were female, with a mean age of 72.5 years (20-108). The mean ICU length of stay was five (3-8) days, mechanical ventilation was required by 19.3% of the patients, and their mean total hospitalization time was 12.56 (1-30) days. There was a significant association of a high mNUTRIC score with older patients (p = 0.002), a lower pH (p = 0.029), higher lactate concentration (p = 0.004), and higher number of comorbidities (p = 0.024). A total of 12% (n = 10) of the patients died and there was a significant association between a high mNUTRIC score and death (χ2 5.918; p = 0.024). CONCLUSION: Patients with a high mNUTRIC score were older, had a higher number of comorbidities and severity criteria, and had a significantly higher death rate, indicating the importance of the application of a specialized tool and consequent follow-up nutrition.

doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2019.10.005PubMed 31987111Biomarkers