Nutritional Assessment

Abstract

THE diagnosis of protein-calorie malnutrition is often based on objective measurements of nutritional status,1 including assessments of hepatic secretory proteins (serum albumin and serum transferrin), anthropometric evaluation, creatinine-height index, and determination of cell-mediated immunity. Although these indicators are epidemiologically useful and correlate with morbidity and mortality,2 3 4 5 6 no single measurement is of consistent value in individual patients.nutritional status may also be assessed by clinical examination. Although this method is used routinely, its validity and reproducibility do not appear to have been tested.To determine the reproducibility and validity of clinical assessment of nutritional status, we studied the nutritional status of . . .