Summary of Screening tools
Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire (SNAQ) screening tools
To get an insight into patients’ nutritional status we have developed a series of quick and easy-to-use screening tools:
- SNAQ: for hospitalized patients
- SNAQRC: for the elderly in care homes or residential care
- SNAQ65+: for patients in the community who are aged 65 and over
(SNAQ = Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire)
The SNAQ screening tools are available in 6 different languages:
SNAQ
SNAQ 65+
SNAQ RC
Our instruments are not diagnostic tools; patients identified as being at risk of malnutrition require further and more detailed assessment.
For screening potential malnutrition in hospitalized children, we use STRONGkids (Hulst et al, 2010)
Strengths of the SNAQ screening tools
The philosophy behind these tools is to make nutritional screening as easy as possible
- The tool can be used by untrained personnel
- The tool does not need any equipment e.g. a scale or stadiometer
- The tool does not need the user to perform any calculations
- Screening a patient takes less than 5 minutes
- The results of screening lead into a treatment plan
Validation studies
Our SNAQ tools have been validated in their respective target populations. The literature describing the development and validation of the tools can be found her:
- Development and validation of SNAQ
- Development and validation of SNAQRC
- Development and validation of SNAQ65+
We have also developed multidisciplinary guidelines that describe the responsibilities of dietitians, nurses, medical doctors and diet aides in the treatment of patients at nutritional risk. These can be found in the subsections of this website.
Other screening tools
General measurements
General measurements used to obtain a picture of nutrition status are weight, height and/or Body Mass Index (BMI), weight loss over time and loss of appetite/reduced food intake.
Frequently used risk factors for malnutrition are:
- Involuntary weight loss (more than 5% over the last month or more than 10% over the last six months)
- BMI less than 18.5 for adults (< 65 years of age) and less than 20 for elderly (≥ 65y)
- Decreased appetite or reduced food intake
Other screening tools
There is a variety of other validated screening tools. In Europe, the following are the most widely used:
- MUST (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool). For more information visit www.bapen.org.uk
- NRS-2002 (Nutrition Risk Screening)
- MNA (Mini Nutritional Assessment, specifically designed for use in elderly). For more information visit www.mna-elderly.com
Other literature on screening
A.S.P.E.N. Clinical Guidelines 2011: Nutrition screening, assessment, and intervention in adults
Neelemaat 2011. Comparison of 5 different screening tools
van Venrooij 2006. Quick and easy nutritional screening tools. A systematic review
Elia 2005. To screen or not to screen for adult malnutrition