Validation of the nutrition screening tool 'Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition, version II' among octogenarians.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity of the nutrition screening tool 'Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition, version II' (SCREEN II) among a purposive sample of octogenarians.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional validation study.

SETTING: Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

PARTICIPANTS: Forty-five community-living residents aged 85-86 years. Equal proportions of participants were recruited at low, medium and high nutrition risk based on their SCREEN II score 12 months prior.

MEASUREMENTS: Nutrition risk was assessed using SCREEN II. Demographic and health data were established. Using established criterion a dietitian's nutrition risk rating assessment ranked participants from low risk (score of 1) to high risk (score of 10). The assessment included a medical history, anthropometric measures and dietary intake. Dietary intake was established from three 24 hour multiple pass recalls (MPR). A Spearman's correlation determined the association between the SCREEN II score and the dietitian's risk score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were completed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the cut-off point for high nutrition risk.

RESULTS: The SCREEN II score was significantly correlated with the dietitian's risk rating (rs = -0.76 (p<0.01). A newly defined cut-off point <49 was established for high nutrition risk derived from ROC curves and AUC (0.87, p < 0.01); sensitivity 90% and specificity 86%.

CONCLUSION: SCREEN II is a simple, easy to use, 14 item questionnaire and appears to be a valid tool for detection of nutrition risk people aged 85-86 years.