Validation of RFH-NPT screening tool to detect risk of malnutrition in patients with chronic liver disease / Norashimah Rajab

Hepatic diseases patients are especially prone to malnutrition, which is often underestimated. Malnutrition screening in liver cirrhosis is challenging due to the presence of fluid retention. Screening tools have been developed to spot out the risk of malnutrition in patients. However, most have not been validated for patients with liver disease. The results aimed to validate the specific Royal Free Hospital Nutritional Prioritizing Tool (RFH-NPT) in chronic liver disease patients and also to evaluate the association between RFH-NPT, Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS 2002) and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) tool. Methods: This was a cross sectional study to validate the RFH-NPT in chronic liver disease patients. Content validity was confirmed by interviewing eight liver disease professionals. Face validity was assessed by surveying forty nurses working in the liver disease ward. In addition, agreement between NRS 2002, RFH-NPT and nutrition assessment was assessed using the SGA tool. Results: Eighty patients with chronic liver disease participated in this study.