Controlling nutritional status score as a sensitive instrument for malnutrition screening in systemic sclerosis - a retrospective study

Despite the high prevalence of malnutrition in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), it often remains overlooked in daily routine. The study aimed to assess the nutritional status of SSc patients using two different tools, concerning their clinical presentation and laboratory results. This retrospective study included 44 SSc patients. We assessed malnutrition with the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and the Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score. Systemic involvement and laboratory parameters were analysed. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA Kruscal-Wallis with post-hoc tests for continuous variables and Chi2 tests for dichotomous variables. The CONUT revealed a substantial proportion of malnourished patients (n = 27; 61,4%), which was higher compared to the assessment with MUST (n = 14; 34,1%). CONUT-undernourished patients had higher C-reactive-protein (28,84 +/- 31,72 versus 2,91 +/- 2,18, p = 0,0126), higher red-cell-distribution-width (moderate-16,46 +/- 2,52 versus normal-13,90 +/- 1,03, p = 0,0150), lower hemoglobin (moderate-11,45 +/- 2,28 versus normal-13,49 +/- 1,28, p = 0,0426), higher N-terminal pro-B-type-natriuretic-peptide (moderate-3790,53 +/- 6810,00 versus normal-193,87 +/- 265,16, p = 0,0406). However, these observations were not confirmed for MUST-assessed malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition in our study was similar to other described cohorts. The CONUT score appeared to be a more sensitive screening tool for malnutrition, however, in patients with cardiological involvement, it may give false-positive results. This study is the first to evaluate SSc patients with the CONUT score, highlighting the need for further research to assess its effectiveness thoroughly.