title: Comparison of the performance of four different tools in diagnosing disease-associated anorexia and their relationship with nutritional, functional and clinical outcome measures in hospitalized patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In hospitalized patients, lack of appetite, i.e., disease-associated anorexia, is the main factor determining insufficient food intake and weight loss, which in turn increase morbidity and mortality. Controversies exist on which tool should be preferred when diagnosing anorexia. Aim of the study was to evaluate in hospitalized medical patients, the performance of 4 different tools [i.e., self-assessment of appetite, FAACT-ESPEN score, visual analog scale (VAS), and the Anorexia Questionnaire (AQ)] in assessing disease-associated anorexia and predicting nutritional and clinical variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospitalized patients consecutively admitted to the Internal Medicine ward at our institution were considered. After informed consent was obtained, patients were asked to self-assess their appetite vs the previous month. The VAS, the FAACT-ESPEN score and the Anorexia Questionnaire were also submitted. Food intake immediately following the interview was recorded. Nutritional (i.e., body weight, height), functional (i.e., handgrip strength) and clinical variables (i.e., length of stay) were registered upon admission and before discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We studied 105 patients (74M:31F; 66.2 ± 16.3 yrs). The prevalence of anorexia as assessed by patients' self assessment, FAACT-ESPEN score, and the Anorexia Questionnaire was 23%, 10% and 48%, respectively. VAS did not show any correlation with food intake. Anorexic patients as identified by the self assessment of appetite showed reduced food intake and weaker handgrip strength than non-anorexic. The FAACT-ESPEN score correlated with body weight, food intake and handgrip strength, but was not related with length of stay. Anorexic patients as identified by the Anorexia Questionnaire showed reduced food intake, lower body weight, weaker handgrip strength and longer hospital stay than non-anorexic patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of anorexia significantly varies according to the diagnostic tool used. Except for VAS, all the tested tools identify patients with impaired nutritional and functional variables. However, only the Anorexia Questionnaire identifies patients with longer hospital stay. Our results suggest that in clinical practice, modification of appetite reflects different underlying mechanisms whose impacts on clinical outcome measures may differ. Therefore, an ideal anorexia assessment tool does not appear to exist, but it should be chosen according to the outcome measures to be assessed (i.e., Anorexia Questionnaire to predict length of stay).
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine, Sapienza University, viale dell'Università 37, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arezzo di Trifiletti
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Misino
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giannantoni
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giannantoni
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cascino
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fazi
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossi Fanelli
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laviano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000855:Anorexia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001066:Appetite / Q000502:physiology; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires