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  • Title: Nutrition Screening Practices amongst Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities.
    Author: Kellett J, Kyle G, Itsiopoulos C, Naunton M.
    Journal: J Nutr Health Aging; 2016; 20(10):1040-1044. PubMed ID: 27925144.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) in Australia who use a nutrition screening tool on residents to identify those at risk of malnutrition, and to review practice following identification of residents as being at high risk of malnutrition. DESIGN: Multi-center, cross sectional observational study. SETTING: Residential Aged Care Facilities. PARTICIPANTS: The Director of Nursing at each site was contacted by telephone and asked questions relating to current nutrition screening practices at their residential aged care facility. MEASUREMENTS: Data was collected from a stratified sample of 229 residential aged care facilities in each state and territory in Australia. RESULTS: 82% of RACFs (n = 188) use a nutrition screening tool on residents to identify those at risk of malnutrition, however only 52% of RACFs (n = 119) used a screening tool which is validated in the residential aged care setting. There was a significant association between facilities using a nutrition screening tool and the staff members being trained to conduct nutrition screening (p < 0.001). Facilities that employed a dietitian were more likely to use a validated nutrition screening tool (p < 0.005). The most frequently used nutrition screening tool was the 'Mini Nutritional Assessment - Short Form (MNA-SF)', which was used by 32% (n = 60) of the RACFs, followed by the 'Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST)' (15%, n = 29). CONCLUSION: We found that the majority of RACFs in Australia use a nutrition screening tool, however many of these RACFs use a tool which has not been validated in the RACF setting. This study highlights the need for greater dietetic advocacy in using validated nutrition screening tools to ensure malnutrition is identified.
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