‘MUST’ is a five-step screening tool to

identify adults, who are malnourished, at risk of

malnutrition (undernutrition), or obese. It also
includes management guidelines which can be
used to develop a care plan.

It is for use in hospitals, community and

other care settings and can be used by all care
workers.
This guide contains:

• A flow chart showing the 5 steps to use for

screening and management
• BMI chart
• Weight loss tables
• Alternative measurements when BMI cannot be
obtained by measuring weight and height.
The 5 ‘MUST’ Steps
Step 1
Measure height and weight to get a BMI score using chart provided. If unable
to obtain height and weight, use the alternative procedures shown in this
guide.

Step 2
Note percentage unplanned weight loss and score using tables provided.

Step 3
Establish acute disease effect and score.

Step 4
Add scores from steps 1, 2 and 3 together to obtain overall risk of
malnutrition.

Step 5
Use management guidelines and/or local policy to develop care plan.
 Subjective Global Assessment
• is a simple bedside method of assessing
the risk of malnutrition and identifying those
who would benefit from nutritional support.
• is a proven nutritional assessment tool that
has been found to be highly predictive of
nutrition-associated complications.
 SGA fulfils the requirements of a
desirable system of nutritional assessment
by:
 Identifying malnutrition

 Distinguishing malnutrition from a

disease state
 Predicting outcome

 Identifying patients in whom nutritional

therapy can alter outcome
 Mini Nutritional Assessment
• is a validated nutrition screening and
assessment tool that can identify geriatric
patients age 65 and above who are
malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.

• the most well validated nutrition screening

tool for the elderly
Nutritional status Assessment and Analysis
Assessing Nutritional Status
 Nutrition Care Process
• is a systematic approach to providing high-
quality nutrition care.

• the process provides a framework for the

RDN to individualize care, taking into account
the patient/client's needs and values and using
the best evidence available to make decisions.
 The Nutrition Care Process consists of
distinct, interrelated steps:

Nutrition Assessment
The RDN collects and documents
information such as
- food or nutrition-related history;
- biochemical data,
- medical tests and procedures;
- anthropometric measurements,
- nutrition-focused physical findings and
client history.
Diagnosis
Data collected during the nutrition
assessment guides the RDN in selection of
the appropriate nutrition diagnosis

Intervention
The RDN then selects the nutrition
intervention that will be directed to the root
cause (or etiology) of the nutrition problem
and aimed at alleviating the signs and
symptoms of the diagnosis
Monitoring/Evaluation
The final step of the process is
monitoring and evaluation, which the RDN
uses to determine if the patient/client has
achieved, or is making progress toward, the
planned goals.
END