Malnutrition risk screening: New insights in a new era
Open accessAbstract
Twenty years ago, ESPEN published its "Guidelines for nutritional screening 2002", with the note that these guidelines were based on the evidence available until 2002, and that they needed to be updated and adapted to current state of knowledge in the future. Twenty years have passed, and tremendous progress has been made in the field of malnutrition risk screening. Many screening tools have been developed and validated for different patient groups and different health care settings. Some countries even have introduced mandatory screening for malnutrition at admission to hospital. Yet, changes in society and healthcare require a reflection on current practice and policies regarding malnutrition risk screening. In this opinion paper, we share our perspectives on malnutrition risk screening in the twenty-twenties, addressing the changing and varying profile of the malnourished individual, the goals of screening and screening tools (i.e., preventive or reactive), the construct of malnutrition risk (i.e., screening for risk factors or screening for existing malnutrition), and screening alongside a patient's journey.
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Many validated screening tools are now available, with most focusing on identification of individuals who already have signs of malnutrition, whereas others identify risk factors for developing malnutrition.
“Many validated screening tools are now available, 31 , 32 with most focusing on the identification of individuals who already have signs of malnutrition, whereas others identify risk factors for developing malnutrition. 33 , 34 , 35 , 36”
From GLIM consensus approach to diagnosis of malnutrition: A 5‐year update (2025) · cites this paper as [31]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cederholm, T., & Bosaeus, I. (2024) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra2212159 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
GLIM consensus approach to diagnosis of malnutrition: A 5‐year update
Jensen, G. L., Cederholm, T., Correia, M. I. T. D., Gonzalez, M. C., Fukushima, R., Pisprasert, V., Blaauw, R., Braz, D. C., Carrasco, F., Cruz Jentoft, A. J., et al. (2025) · Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · doi:10.1002/jpen.2756 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- de van der Schueren, M. A. E., & Jager-Wittenaar, H.
- Venue
- Clinical Nutrition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-10
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2163-2168
- ISSN
- 0261-5614 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4292136512
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 6.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Clinical Nutrition and Gastroenterology
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Dietetics, Nutrition, and Education
- Keywords
- malnutrition screening, nutritional screening, screening tool, ESPEN guidelines, hospital admission screening, risk factors for malnutrition, patient journey, malnutrition prevalence
- MeSH terms
- Hospitalization, Humans, Mass Screening, Nutritional Status, Nutrition Assessment, Malnutrition
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