Different nutritional screening tools and recommended screening algorithm for pediatric oncology patients

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in children, with approximately 300,000 cases diagnosed each year worldwide and 200-250 in Hungary among children aged 0-18 years. Nearly 50% of the patients are treated at Semmelweis University’s 2nd Department of Pediatrics. Several types of childhood cancers are associated with high nutritional risk.

“The aim of the study was to present a new self-developed nutritional risk screening method (NRS-PC) and to develop a screening algorithm which can be used in our pediatric oncology facilities”,  pointed out dr. Gábor Kovács, professor, head of the 2nd Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University.

Nutritional risk screening was performed between 2017 and 2018  the 2nd Department of Pediatrics involving 109 pediatric oncology patients aged 3-18. To identify cut off scores, the newly developed risk assessment method was compared to a validated nutrition assessment tool used in pediatric oncology. The study showed that the self-developed screening tool (NRS PC) has better classifier properties in identifying children with lower muscle mass.