title: Nutritional screening with Subjective Global Assessment predicts hospital stay in patients with digestive diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Nutritional status is an important factor that determines hospital stay, and the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) is a candidate tool for nutritional screening on admission. However, the significance of the SGA has not been evaluated well in the ward for digestive diseases. We conducted the present study to test whether the SGA predicts hospital stay of these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred sixty-two patients with digestive diseases were consecutively enrolled between July 2004 and April 2005. They consisted of 145 males and 117 females and included 110 patients with cancer. Disease category was gastrointestinal in 94, hepatic in 111, and biliary/pancreatic in 57. The SGA was performed by a certified dietician. Effects of SGA and other nutritional parameters on hospital stay were examined by simple and multiple regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among tested variables, simple regression analysis identified the SGA, disease category, presence of malignancy, serum albumin level, percent triceps skinfold thickness, and percent arm muscle circumference as significant predictive parameters for hospital stay. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the SGA had the best predictive power, followed by the presence of malignancy and disease category.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SGA is a simple and reliable predictor for hospital stay in patients with digestive diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Gifu University School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshitatsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakahara
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiraki
authors.forename: Kayoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fukao
authors.forename: Sachiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaifuku
authors.forename: Naoe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Junpei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iwasa
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deguchi
authors.forename: Hisataka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moriwaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D004066:Digestive System Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity