title: Acquisition and utilisation of anthropometric measurements on admission in a paediatric hospital before and after the introduction of a malnutrition screening tool.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acquisition of anthropometric measurements and assessment of growth in paediatric inpatients remains poor. The introduction of malnutrition screening tools that incorporate weight and height/length measurements might improve their acquisition and utilisation in other aspects of patient care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Documentation of weight and/length measurements and their plotting on growth charts was evaluated using a case notes review in paediatric inpatients who were admitted before (n = 146), during (n = 154) and after the pilot (n = 151) and official (n = 128) clinical use of a screening tool.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Documentation of weight was high in all periods (> 97% of patients). Height/length measurement documentation was negligible (4% of patients) but improved after the introduction of the screening tool (> 62%; P < 0.0001), except in infants, who were not part of the screening programme.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Introduction of a screening tool improved the acquisition of anthropometric measurements by nursing staff, although its utilisation by medical staff remained poor.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Milani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Purcell
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Macleod
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gerasimidis
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D057238:Growth Charts; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007297:Inpatients; D007902:Length of Stay; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010343:Patient Admission; D010865:Pilot Projects