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Patient, family and carer experiences of nutritional screening: a systematic review
Author(s) -
Bullock A. F.,
Greenley S. L.,
Patterson M. J.,
McKenzie G. A. G.,
Johnson M. J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/jhn.12849
Subject(s) - cinahl , medicine , medline , qualitative research , malnutrition , thematic analysis , nursing , family medicine , psychological intervention , pathology , social science , sociology , political science , law
Background Despite recommendations for nutritional risk screening of all inpatients, outpatients and care home residents, as well as work to assess clinician's experiences and the validity of tools, little attention has been paid to the experiences of patients undergoing nutritional screening. This review aims to synthesise systematically the current evidence regarding nutritional risk screening with respect to the experiences and views of patients, their families and carers. Methods A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science and British Nursing Database (inception – July 2019); with screening terms related to malnutrition, screening tools and experience. Titles, abstracts and full‐text papers were independently reviewed by two reviewers and then quality‐appraised. Qualitative papers and quantitative surveys were included. A narrative review of surveys and a thematic framework synthesis of interviews were used to identify themes. Results Nine studies, including five qualitative interview papers, were included. Qualitative and quantitative study results were combined using a matrix chart to allow comparison. Surveyed participants reported processes of nutritional screening as acceptable. Three key themes emerged from qualitative data: (i) experience of nutritional screening; (ii) misunderstanding of malnutrition: of causes, role of screening and poor self‐perception of risk; and (iii) barriers to and opportunities for change. Conclusions Although the screening process is acceptable, patients’ misunderstanding and poor knowledge regarding causes and consequences of malnutrition result in reduced risk perception and disbelief or disregard of nutritional screening results. Findings should inform policy and clinical practice, as well as highlight the known paucity of data regarding the effectiveness of screening on clinical outcomes.