Background: Nutrition screening is usually administered by nurses. However, most studies on nutrition screening tools have not used nurses to validate the tools. The 3-Minute Nutrition Screening (3-MinNS) assesses weight loss, dietary intake, and muscle wastage, with the composite score of each used to determine risk of malnutrition. The aim of the study was to determine the validity and reliability of 3-MinNS administered by nurses, who are the intended assessors.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 3 ward-based nurses screened 121 patients aged 21 years and over using 3-MinNS in 3 wards within 24 hours of admission. A dietitian then assessed patients' nutrition status using Subjective Global Assessment within 48 hours of admission, while blinded to the results of the screening. To assess the reliability of 3-MinNS, 37 patients screened by the first nurse were rescreened by a second nurse within 24 hours, who was blinded to the results of the first nurse. The sensitivity, specificity, and best cutoff score for 3-MinNS were determined using the receiver operator characteristics curve.
Results: The best cutoff score to identify all patients at risk of malnutrition using 3-MinNS was 3, with sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 88%. This cutoff point also identified all (100%) severely malnourished patients. There was strong correlation between 3-MinNS and SGA (r = .78, P < .001). The agreement between 2 nurses conducting the 3-MinNS tool was 78.3%.
Conclusion: The 3-MinNS is a valid and reliable tool for nurses to identify patients at risk of malnutrition.
Keywords: Nutrition Screening; Subjective Global Assessment; nurses; nutrition assessment; nutritional status.