Consensus Statement: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition

TLDR

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.). The authors recommend using a standardized set of diagnostic characteristics to identify and document adult malnutrition in routine clinical practice. They propose an etiologically based diagnostic nomenclature that incorporates the current understanding of the inflammatory response’s role in malnutrition’s incidence, progression, and resolution. Universal use of a single set of diagnostic characteristics will facilitate malnutrition’s recognition, yield more valid estimates of its prevalence and incidence, guide interventions, influence expected outcomes, and help more accurately predict the human and financial burdens associated with malnutrition’s prevention and treatment, ensuring high‑quality, cost‑effective nutrition care.

Abstract

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy) and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.) recommend that a standardized set of diagnostic characteristics be used to identify and document adult malnutrition in routine clinical practice. An etiologically based diagnostic nomenclature that incorporates a current understanding of the role of the inflammatory response on malnutrition's incidence, progression, and resolution is proposed. Universal use of a single set of diagnostic characteristics will facilitate malnutrition's recognition, contribute to more valid estimates of its prevalence and incidence, guide interventions, and influence expected outcomes. This standardized approach will also help to more accurately predict the human and financial burdens and costs associated with malnutrition's prevention and treatment and further ensure the provision of high-quality, cost-effective nutrition care.