
An increase in the SDS by one point was associated with an increase in the LOS of 2.2–11.3%.

The evaluation of the outcomes of 21,855 hospitalisations demonstrated that the NS was associated with an increment in the LOS of 5.5–12.3% per score point, depending on the diagnosis group. The association between the NRS components and LOS/mortality was estimated using a linear mixed-effects regression model and a logistic regression model, respectively, with adjustment for confounders (age, sex, comorbidity, diagnosis group, mode of discharge and year of hospitalisation). Data on patients’ NRS, primary diagnosis, number of secondary diagnoses, mortality, length of stay (LOS), discharge, sex and age were collected. The aim of the study was to evaluate how the two NRS components Nutritional Score (NS) and Severity of Disease Score (SDS) are associated with patients’ length of hospital stay and mortality.Īll patients admitted to the medical department of a large community hospital in Switzerland were screened for malnutrition using the nutrition screening NRS during the years 2014 to 2017. Higher NRS scores have been shown to be negatively associated with patients’ outcomes such as increased morbidity and mortality. It screens patients based on recent weight loss, reduction of recent food intake, body mass index (BMI), severity of disease and age. There are several validated screening tools for malnutrition, one of which is the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS).

Malnutrition is a substantial issue in hospitals, leading to prolonged length of hospital stay, increased perioperative morbidity and increased mortality.
