Résumé
Reduced food intake is a key aetiological factor of malnutrition. The study purpose was to validate the ingesta Verbal Analogue Scale (ingesta-VAS), a promising tool for rapid food intake assessment, in older adults with cancer in whom malnutrition is frequent and affects treatment outcomes and survival.
This prospective study focused on ≥70-year-old patients with a diet history undergoing their first oncological treatment at a French cancer centre. Exclusion criteria included surgery, oral intake cessation, or artificial nutrition use. Dietitians evaluated nutritional status, daily energy intake, and used the ingesta-VAS and Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF). The ingesta-VAS validity, sensitivity, specificity, and prognostic impact were assessed using daily food intake as primary criterion, then <25 kcal/kg/day as reference standard for inadequate energy intake. The Area Under the Curve was used to select the cut-off. Overall survival was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier analysis.
The analysis involved 441 participants. The correlation between ingesta-VAS scores and energy intake was strong (
= 0.71), and moderate with the MNA-SF scores (
= 0.55, p < .001). Its sensitivity and specificity for detecting inadequate energy intake was 79.0% and 72.6%, respectively. Combined with performance status and body mass index, ingesta-VAS significantly predicted the inadequate energy intake (odds ratio: 10.2, p < 0.001). Difference in overall survival groups was significant with the cut-off of ≤7 [HR = 1.60 (95% CI: 1.29-1.98), p < 0.001].
The ingesta-VAS exhibits reliable metrological properties and may serve as an early, non-invasive, and simple tool to screen reduced food intake in older adults with cancer for detecting the risk of malnutrition.