NRS-2002 and mNUTRIC score: Could we predict mortality of hematological malignancy patients in the ICU?

Malnutrition is a problem that greatly affects patients with hematological malignancy (HM) throughout the course of illness. Intensity of the malignancy treatment, inadequate energy intake, complex procedures such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and treatment side effects are contributing factors for malnutrition in HM patients. The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of the modified Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (mNUTRIC) score and Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) in predicting hospital and long-term mortality of HM patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify effects of malnutrition on ICU mortality.

This prospective observational cohort study was conducted in a university teaching hospital tertiary ICU service. During the study period, 112 HM patients who were >18 years old were admitted to the ICU. We excluded the patients who were discharged or died within 24 h from the statistical analysis. The patients were followed for 3 years after discharge for long-term mortality.

Twenty-nine patients died within 24 h of admission and were excluded from the study; therefore, statistical analysis was done for 81 patients. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that high malnutrition risk, according to the NRS-2002 score, was associated with greater odds of ICU mortality (P = 0.002, odds ratio = 19.16).

In this study, we showed that NRS-2002 is superior to mNUTRIC score in predicting ICU mortality in patients with HMs. mNUTRIC score and NRS-2002 were not superior to each other in predicting long-term mortality.