Key approaches to diagnosing malnutrition in adults

Nutrition assessment is used to describe nutrition status-related nutrition problems and their causes, one of which includes malnutrition. Four malnutrition diagnostic tools are currently in use today in adults: Subjective Global Assessment, the Mini Nutritional Assessment, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics/American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition malnutrition consensus characteristics, and the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition criteria. The aim of this article is to provide sufficient background of these methodologies to assist clinicians in choosing their approach in diagnosing malnutrition. There is substantial overlap between the criteria included in these malnutrition diagnostic approaches. A desired goal is to identify a core data set in order to evaluate malnutrition prevalence globally and to assess the impact of nutrition interventions on nutrition and clinical outcomes.