Sep 5, 2026
2:00 PM12:00 PM
ePoster display
PD731
IMPLEMENTATION GAPS BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL SCREENING AND NUTRITIONAL REFERRAL IN HOSPITALIZED CANCER PATIENTS
A. Misotti1,*, S. Bevilacqua1, S. Colatruglio1, S. Corvasce1, V. Ferri1, N. Gallo2, G. Preziati1, S. Della Valle1
1Clinical Nutrition, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, 2Dietetics BSc, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Rationale: Malnutrition is common among oncology patients and associated with poorer clinical outcomes. Nutritional screening is recommended to identify patients at risk, ensure timely nutritional intervention and was made mandatory in the Lombardy Regional Health System by Regional Resolution DGR XII/1812 (29/01/2024).
Methods: A cross-sectional evaluation of hospital nutritional screening practices was conducted at our Institute between July and December 2025. Inpatients were screened using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) by staff nurses. Compliance with screening procedures, availability of anthropometric data, and patterns of nutritional consultation requests were assessed across hospital wards.
Results: N. 210 patients were screened. The table shows overall compliance with MUST, main causes of non-compliant cases, body weight assessment methodology, risk classification (low, medium and high) of patients according to MUST and discrepancies between screening results and nutritional consultations requested.
The median time from hospital admission to nutritional consultation request was 3 days.
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Conclusion: Despite good screening coverage, substantial gaps persist between malnutrition risk identification and clinical management. Structured integration of screening results into referral pathways; improved anthropometric data collection may reduce delays in nutritional consultation and support earlier nutritional intervention in hospitalized cancer patients. Residential and on-field training were planned for medical and nursing staff involved in screening.
Disclosure of Interest: None declared