Validity of a renal inpatient nutrition screening tool (iNUT)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A multi-centre study to assess the validity of a novel renal-specific inpatient nutrition screening tool (iNUT)
IRAS ID
171880
Contact name
Debasish Banerjee
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
15.0140 ,
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
People with kidney disease are at increased risk of malnutrition and this can lead to harmful complications and increased risk of death. Those admitted to hospital are particularly at risk from malnutrition, with up to 50% affected. Malnutrition in patients with kidney disease is complex and early identification may improve the response to treatment. Assessment of malnutrition in these patients requires specialist training, is time consuming and impractical for all admissions. Nutrition screening tools assess the risk of malnutrition and identify those patients requiring a full nutrition assessment. They can be completed by a wide range of hospital staff and require only a short training period. However, nutrition screening tools designed for the general hospital patient miss malnutrition risk in many patients with kidney disease. A nutritional screening tool, the iNUT, was developed to try to overcome this. Initial findings indicate it to be better than the standard hospital screening tool in identifying those at risk from malnutrition according to a standardised dietetic assessment. Nurses found it easy and quick to use. The aim is to further assess the iNUT to provide evidence to support its use more widely across the UK.
The iNUT is being implemented for all admissions to the renal wards of three hospitals. In 137 patients an experienced renal dietitian will assess malnutrition risk using standard validated methods to compare with iNUT and the general hospital tool. All assessment methods are in routine clinical use. Nurses’ opinion of iNUT will be sought with a questionnaire. Reliability will be tested by repeating iNUT in a subset of patients. Length of stay and readmission rates will examine iNUT malnutrition rating and outcome. The results will indicate whether iNUT can be recommended to screen renal inpatients for their risk of malnutrition so that they can receive appropriate intervention and treatment.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0272
Date of REC Opinion
12 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion