Comparison of mNUTRIC-S2 and mNUTRIC scores to assess nutritional risk and predict intensive care unit mortality.

Background: Nutritional status is associated with mortality. The modified Nutrition Risk in the Critically Ill (mNUTRIC) score is one of the most commonly used nutritional risk assessment tools in intensive care units (ICUs). The purpose of this study was to compare the mortality predictive ability of the mNUTRIC score to that of the mNUTRIC-S2 score, which uses the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II instead of the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II.

Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis included patients admitted to the ICU between January and September 2020. Each patient's electronic medical records were reviewed. The model discrimination for predicting ICU mortality was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and a Cox regression model was performed to confirm the relationship between the groups and mortality.

Results: In total, 220 patients were enrolled. The ROC curve for predicting ICU mortality was 0.64 for the mNUTRIC score versus 0.67 for the mNUTRIC-S2 score. The difference between the areas was 0.03 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.01 to 0.06; P=0.09). Patients with mNUTRIC-S2 score ≥5 had a greater risk of ICU mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 3.64; 95% CI, 1.85-7.14; P<0.001); however, no such relationship was observed with mNUTRIC score (HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 0.62-4.62; P=0.31).

Conclusions: The mNUTRIC-S2 score was significantly associated with ICU mortality. A cutoff score of 5 was selected as most appropriate.