Validation of the STAMP Screening Tool For Pediatric Nutritional Risk
Condition: Malnutrition
MeSH terms: Malnutrition
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Background: Insufficient nutritional intake, with or without concomitant morbidity, leads to
      weight loss or insufficient weight gain, is related to an increase in morbidity and mortality
      and exposes the child to medical complications. In addition, obesity is also related to
      complications during hospitalization and complications in general, and therefore early
      identification of these children is extremely important. Studies show that malnutrition is
      frequent among children upon hospitalization, where the risk of pediatric nutritional
      deterioration increases, even in the presence of mild stress factors. This risk is frequent
      mainly among children that arrive at the hospital with an initial poor nutritional status.
      Improving the nutritional status as part of the standard of care already at the ambulatory
      setting might improve the prognosis of children when ill. In Israel, nutritional screening in
      not conducted among children since there is no proper validated screening tool. Study
      objectives: To test the accuracy of the STAMP Screening Tool for pediatric nutritional risk
      which is designed to be used by nurses, and to compare it to a complete nutritional
      assessment conducted by a dietician in Clalit Health Care Services clinics. In addition, the
      investigators wish to examine the effects of using a screening tool for nutritional risk on
      the medical staff's attention to the nutritional status; this is measured by the collection
      of nutritional status-related data and their recording in the patient file.

      Methods: 100 boys and girls aged 1 to 6, attending Clalit Health Care Services Pediatric
      Centers, will undergo an assessment using the STAMP Tool; a questionnaire including 3
      questions with a summary score, according to which the nutritional risk level shall be
      determined. These children shall also undergo a complete dietician assessment in order to
      examine the validity of the STAMP Tool. In addition, 150 files shall be reviewed in the
      beginning of the research and after 6 months in order to estimate the change in medical
      staff's attention to nutritional status, by way of noting relevant diagnoses, reference to
      nutritional status- related tests and recording of anthropometric measurements.

      A statistical analysis to examine the validity of the STAMP Tool shall be carried out using
      the kappa test (K) (30). The effect of the STAMP Tool use shall be calculated using the chi
      square test.
    


Intervention name(s): questionnaire STAMP
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Children will undergo an assessment using the STAMP Tool; a questionnaire including 3 questions with a summary score, according to which the nutritional risk level shall be determined. These children shall also undergo a complete dietician assessment in order to examine the validity of the STAMP Tool.
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: Nutritional assessment; children; malnutrition