Date Available

7-18-2018

Year of Publication

2018

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nutrition and Food Systems (MSNFS)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Agriculture, Food and Environment

Department/School/Program

Dietetics and Human Nutrition

First Advisor

Dr. Sandra Bastin

Abstract

Patients with liver disease have an increased risk for malnutrition because of side effects of the disease. The Nutrition Focused Physical Exam (NFPE) was developed for nutrition professionals to aid physicians in a nutrition-based diagnosis of malnutrition. The purpose of this study was to examine the NFPE for its validity in liver disease patients being evaluated for transplant. In addition, the NFPE was used to assess incidence and severity of malnutrition in end stage liver disease patients and compare these results to already developed malnutrition tools such as the Patient Generated-Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), Triceps Skinfolds (TSF), Mid-Arm Circumference (MAC), Lumbar Index, and Total Psoas Muscle Area (TPA). The NFPE was found to be highly correlated with PG-SGA results. There was a weak correlation between the NFPE and the TSF, MAC, and Lumbar Index/TPA, except when comparing the bottom 25% quartile of the Lumbar Index to severe malnutrition using the NFPE. This resulted in a moderate correlation. The odds-ratio for hospital admission based on malnutrition and severe malnutrition were both extremely high (14.571, 18.857 respectively). These preliminary results reinforce the significance of the NFPE and the need for additional studies using this tool.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.262

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