Fachal CV, Fernández-González SM, Moreno-Álvarez A, Solar-Boga A, et al.
Nutrients. Date of publication 2025 Jan 24;volume 17(3):.
1. Nutrients. 2025 Jan 24;17(3):433. doi: 10.3390/nu17030433.
Nutritional Screening Tools in the Pediatric Population: A Systematic Review.
Fachal CV(1), Fernández-González SM(1), Moreno-Álvarez A(1), Solar-Boga A(1).
Author information:
(1)Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Unit, Department of
Pediatrics, A Coruña University Hospital, Area Sanitaria A Coruña-Cee, 15006 A
Coruña, Spain.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) is the most common
type of malnutrition in industrialized countries, and it has a high associated
morbidity. Despite the existence of various screening tools for its detection,
there is currently no consensus in the literature on which one is the most
appropriate for clinical use. The aim of this systematic review is to update the
available evidence on pediatric nutritional screening tools and to compare their
validity and applicability.
METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using the MEDLINE
(PubMed) database, selecting articles related to nutritional screening tools in
the pediatric population. A quality assessment was carried out using the Quality
Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2).
RESULTS: A total of 200 articles were identified, of which 11 were included in
the review. They include a total of 9,573 patients (mean age of 6.7 years and
49% female) from different countries. Eight screening tools were found, and
three of them were the most employed: the Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional
Status and Growth (STRONGkids), the Screening Tool for the Assessment of
Malnutrition in Pediatric (STAMP), and the Pediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score
(PYMS). A high level of heterogeneity was observed among the selected studies
without a gold standard for comparison.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite the heterogeneity, the PYMS seems to have the greatest
capacity to detect pediatric patients at nutritional risk and should therefore
be considered when choosing a nutritional screening tool.
DOI: 10.3390/nu17030433
PMCID: PMC11820693
PMID: 39940291 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Appears in following Topics:
