[Comparison of the subjective global nutrition assessment x objective nutrition evaluation]

Nutritional Assessment methods (ONA) are traditionally employed in hospitalized patients (anthropometry, laboratorial exams and immunological tests). The Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) estimates weight loss and changes in dietetic intake as being allegedly efficient for protein-caloric malnutrition diagnosis of the hospitalized adult.

Compare the efficacy of SGA against the traditional ONA.

The prospective study was done with 100 hospitalized patients from 3/90-5/90 at the Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo. The Detsky et al. questionnaire was applied besides anthropometric measurements (body weight, triceps skinfold thickness-TSF, mirdam circumference MCA) and laboratorial examinations (serun albumin, hemoglobin, peripheral blood lymphocytes) all of them in the first 3 days of admission. SGA always preceded ONA, and was always done by the same observer.

There was a significant reduction on the average values of anthropometric and laboratorial measurements with the progressive worsening of nutritional status assessed by SGA. There were significant associations (p < 0.05) between hypoalbuminemia (< 3.5 g/dL) loss of TSF (< 10 mm) and MAC (< 23.3 cm) in those patients classified as moderately and severely malnourished by SGA (14%). Hypoalbuminemia, low TSF and SGA malnutrition were all significantly associated to mortality (p < 0.05).

SGA in our hospital is a reliable diagnostic method for the diagnosis of malnutrition of hospitalized adult patients and malnutrition of hospitalized adult patients and keeps prognostic association with mortality.