Comparison of NRS-2002 and MST nutritional screening and correlation with quality of life items in lung cancer patients (REAL-TIME observation study)

Abstract Purpose Approximately a 70% of lung cancer (LC) patients experience malnutrition. Therefore, a rapid and functional nutritional assessment is needed. Several nutritional screening instruments are available for clinical use. This study aimed to compare the Nutritional Risk Screening − 2002 (NRS-2002) and the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST) to assess malnutrition in LC patients. Methods MST, NRS-2002, quality of life (QoL) assessment and Handgrip Test were performed in LC patients at baseline (T0), at day 30th (T1) and at day 90th (T2). The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) was used to assess patients’ QoL. Results The nutritional counselling intervention was offered to 198 LC patients. At T0, NRS-2002 and MST identified 141 and 127 patients at moderate/high risk of malnutrition, respectively. A concordance was observed between the two screening tests throughout the observation period with a correlation coefficient 0.7 (p < 0.001). LC patients with weight loss ≥ 5% at T0, age > 67 years and severe inappetence were more likely to report an NRS-2002 ≥ 3 while weight loss ≥ 5%, inappetence, malaise and depression were significantly associated with an MST ≥ 3. Conclusion These results suggest that both NRS-2002 and MST are useful tools to detect malnutrition in LC patients, with several QoL items associated with malnutrition status.