title: Use of an abridged scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (abPG-SGA) as a nutritional screening tool for cancer patients in an outpatient setting.
abstract: The scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment tool (PG-SGA), regarded as the most appropriate means of identifying malnutrition in cancer patients, is often challenging to implement in a busy outpatient setting. We assessed the validity of an abridged version of the PG-SGA (abPG-SGA), which forgoes the physical examination, and compared its usefulness in discerning malnutrition to the full PG-SGA and Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST). The nutritional status of 90 oncology outpatients receiving chemotherapy was assessed according to SGA global rating, PG-SGA, and MST. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of various cut-off scores for malnutrition. Thirty-six percent of patients were malnourished (SGA). The abPG-SGA yielded 94% sensitivity and 78% specificity and area under the curve (AUC) = 0.956, which was slightly lower than PG-SGA (97% sensitivity, 86% specificity, AUC = 0.967) and higher than MST (81% sensitivity, 72% specificity, AUC = 0.823). Patient reported symptoms included loss of appetite (30%), altered taste (31%), fatigue (30%), and decreased ability to perform activities of daily living (53%). In conclusion, the abPG-SGA is a practical, informative and valid tool for detecting malnutrition in the outpatient oncology setting.
authors: Department of Hematology-Oncology, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors: Denise K
authors: DK
authors: Gabrielson
authors: Donna
authors: D
authors: Scaffidi
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Leung
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Stoyanoff
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Robinson
authors: Rosane
authors: R
authors: Nisenbaum
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Brezden-Masley
authors: Pauline B
authors: PB
authors: Darling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods; D019540:Area Under Curve; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D010045:Outpatients; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity