Validation of the viet-modified screening tools for the assessment of malnutrition in pediatrics (V-mSTAMP)

Abstract

Background

The Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics (STAMP) is designed for hospitalized children aged 2 weeks to 16 years. The modified version, Viet-Modified STAMP (V-mSTAMP), has been adapted for Vietnamese pediatric patients to address local nutritional risks and dietary patterns.

Aims

To validate the modified Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics for use in Vietnamese pediatric patients.

Methods

The study validated the STAMP through a cross-sectional study at the National Children's Hospital, Vietnam. It involved 200 hospitalized children, using STAMP and V-mSTAMP for screening; the Subjective Global Nutrition Assessment (SGNA) and a nutritional standardized method which is a collaborative effort between the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) for nutritional assessment; and comparing V-mSTAMP effectiveness with other reference standards.

Results

The average age of the patients was 10.8 ± 7.2 years. The V-mSTAMP screened 50.5 % of patients at no risk, 15 % at medium risk, and 34.5 % at high risk of malnutrition, with sensitivity ranging from 88.3 % to 94.2 % and specificity ranging from 61.3 % to 84.9 % compared to various standards. The area under the ROC curve ranged from 0.7 to 0.9. The agreement between V-mSTAMP and STAMP was 86.5 % (kappa = 0.7), and the internal reliability of V-mSTAMP showed 98 % agreement (kappa = 0.89).

Conclusion

Our study indicated the V-mSTAMP demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity when compared to the reference standards, with good reliability. Thus, the V-mSTAMP is an effective method for screening malnutrition in Vietnamese pediatric patients.