摘要
Objective According to literature,cancer patients have the highest incidence of malnutrition among hospital patients(40%-80%).Despite this high prevalence,this condition is still under-diagnosed.The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic performance of the Malnutrition Screening Tool(MST),a simple tool that can be applied in a busy setting where a comprehensive assessment at screening would be impractical.Methods PubMed,EMBASE and Cochrane central register of controlled trials were systematically searched to identify records relevant to the research question.The QUADAS-2 was used to assess the quality of each included study and the meta-analysis was conducted using the hierarchical bivariate model in STATA.Results Seven records were included in this study and the overall sensitivity specificity,diagnostic odds ratio(DOR).The pooled sensitivity and specificity generated after the meta-analysis in STATA were 0.78(95%CI:0.64-0.88)and 0.82(95%CI:0.76-0.87),respectively.The corresponding DOR was 16.33(95%CI:7.08-37.67).The positive likelihood ratio(LR+)was+4.39(95%CI:3.02-6.38),and the negative likelihood ratio(LR-)were 0.27(95%CI:0.16-0.47)and the 1/LR-3.72(2.14-6.46).Conclusion These results showed that the MST provides weak diagnostic evidence when used to screen for malnutrition in adult cancer patients.
