title: The STRONGkids nutritional risk screening tool can be used by paediatric nurses to identify hospitalised children at risk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hospitalised children have higher rates of undernutrition. Early detection of at-risk patients could lead to prompt preventative or corrective interventions. Several nutritional risk screening tools are available for screening hospitalised children including the STRONGkids tool. This study was designed to assess the usefulness of STRONGkids when applied by nurses rather than a paediatrician.
  
  
  METHODS
  The STRONGkids questionnaire was simplified to enhance clarity with nursing staff. Trained nursing staff were asked to apply the tool to children, aged 1 month to 17 years, admitted to the Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. Each patient was also assessed by a paediatrician. In addition, the current nutritional state of each patient was defined by measuring their weight and height.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 162 children enrolled, 11.7% were undernourished and 13% overnourished. STRONGkids recognised 84% of undernourished children when the tool was applied by nurses and 90% when the tool was applied by a paediatrician, indicating substantial agreement (kappa = 0.65). A minor simplification to the questionnaire improved its utility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  STRONGkids successfully recognised at-risk children, when applied by either nurses or a paediatrician. It was suitable and feasible for nursing staff to use it to screen for children at risk of nutritional deterioration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Vesal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moeeni
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walls
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Day
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Anthropometry; Children; New Zealand; Nutrition; Nutritional risk screening