Validation of a Nutritional Screening Tool for Ambulatory Use in Pediatrics.

Objectives: To evaluate the use of Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics (STAMP) in a primary health care clinic in the community and to assess the impact of its use on medical staff's awareness of nutritional status.

Methods: STAMP scoring system was tested as is and with modifications in the ambulatory setting. Nutritional risk according to STAMP was compared with a detailed nutritional assessment performed by a registered dietitian. Recording of nutrition-related data and anthropometric measurements in medical files were compared prior and post implementation.

Results: Sixty children were included (31 girls, 52%), ages between 1 and 6 years, mean age 2.8 ± 1.5 (mean ± SD). STAMP scores yielded a fair agreement between STAMP and the dietitian's nutritional assessment: κ = 0.47 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24-0.7), sensitivity of 47.62% (95% CI 28.34-67.63). Modified STAMP yielded more substantial agreement: κ = 0.57 (95% CI 0.35-0.79), sensitivity of 76.19% (95% CI 54.91-89.37), specificity of 82.05% (95% CI 67.33-91.02). The use of STAMP resulted in an increase in recording of appetite, dietary intake, and anthropometric measurements.

Conclusions: Modification of the STAMP improved nutritional risk evaluation in community setting. The use of STAMP in a primary health care clinic raised clinician's awareness to nutritional status. Further work will identify whether this could be translated into lower malnutrition rates and better child care.