Malnutrition Identified by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Consensus Criteria and Other Bedside Tools Is Highly Prevalent in a Sample of Individuals Undergoing Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer

Background: Using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (Academy/ASPEN) Consensus malnutrition definition, we estimated malnutrition prevalence in a sample of individuals with head and neck cancer (HNC) and compared it with the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA). We also investigated the utility of the 50-kHz phase angle (PA) and 200-kHz/5-kHz impedance ratio (IR) to identify malnutrition. Materials and Methods: Nineteen individuals (18 males, 1 female) scheduled to undergo chemoradiotherapy were seen at 5 time points during and up to 3 months after treatment completion. Multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis, PG-SGA, nutrition-focused physical examination, anthropometry, dietary intake, and handgrip strength data were collected. Results: Using the Consensus, 67% were found to be malnourished before treatment initiation; these criteria diagnosed malnutrition with overall good sensitivity (94%) and moderate specificity (43%) compared with PG-SGA. Over all pooled observations, “malnourished” (by Consensus but not PG-SGA category) had a lower mean PA (5.2 vs 5.9; P =.03) and higher IR (0.82 vs 0.79; P =.03) than “well-nourished” categorizations, although the clinical relevance of these findings is unclear. PA and IR were correlated with higher PG-SGA score (r = −0.35, r = 0.36; P <.01) and handgrip strength (r = 0.48, r = −0.47; P <.01). Conclusion: The Academy/ASPEN Consensus and the PG-SGA were in good agreement. It is unclear whether PA and IR can be used as surrogate markers of nutrition status or muscle loss.