Validation of CIPA nutritional screening through prognostic clinical variables in hospitalized surgical patients

CIPA (Control of Food Intake, Protein, and Anthropometry) nutritional screening is positive when one of the following conditions is met: Control of Food Intake for 48-72h <50%; Albumin <3g/dL, Body Mass Index <18.5kg/m² or Arm Circumference ≤22.5cm. Following its validation in non-surgical inpatients, the same process was performed with surgical inpatients.

Validity of the CIPA screening tool in surgical inpatients by comparison with Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and analysis of clinical outcomes.

A prospective study of hospitalized surgical patients, evaluating the prevalence or risk of malnutrition through CIPA and SGA. Analysis of hospital malnutrition according to CIPA screening and association with the clinical outcomes of median length of stay, mortality and early readmission. Concordance between both screening methods by Kappa Index (κ), sensitivity (S) and specificity (SP).

A total of 226 patients were analysed. The prevalence of malnutrition or risk of malnutrition was identified by CIPA in 35.40% and by SGA in 30.08%. CIPA is capable of detecting patients at a greater risk of mortality during hospitalization (5% vs. 0%, P=.006), unlike the SGA (2.94% vs. 1.27%, P=.385). CIPA also detected patients with higher median length of stay (21 days [IQR 14-34 days] vs. 14.5 days [IQR 9-27 days], P=.002) and rate of early readmissions (25.3% vs. 8.2%, P<.001). S and SP of CIPA vs. SGA was 70.59% and 79.75%, respectively; Kappa index was 0.479 (P<.001).

Using CIPA nutritional screening, the prevalence and risk of malnutrition in surgical patients is high, and they present poorer clinical outcomes, making CIPA valid and effective in this type of patients.