Abstract

Objective: The aim of our study determination of malnutrition risk and prevalence in patients who were hospitalized in the pediatric neurology clinic.

Methods: Two hundred patients were evaluated in this prospective study using STRONGkids tool and anthropometric measurements.

Results: At the time of admission, it was found that 42 (21%) of the patients had malnutrition; 12 (6%) had chronic malnutrition, and 30 (15%) had acute malnutrition. Epilepsy was the most common diagnosis (44.5%). According to the STRONGkids, 55% of patients had a moderate or high risk. The mean length of hospitalization in high-risk patients was statistically significantly higher than other risk groups (p=0.022). Our study showed that patients at high risk of developing malnutrition in the pediatric neurology service can be identified with STRONGkids in a short time.

Conclusion: Malnutrition is an important problem for patients hospitalized in pediatric neurology clinics. As a result we recommend applying the STRONGkids screening scale to patients to increase the awareness of healthcare professionals in determining the risk of malnutrition at the time of hospitalization in the pediatric neurology service.