Nutrition
Geriatrics
General medicine
The MUST is a tool developed by BAPEN for screening the risk of malnutrition in adults, both in hospitals and in the community. It combines BMI, recent unintentional weight loss, and the effect of acute disease on dietary intake. The score should be associated with local management guidelines and re-evaluation.
Number of questions
3 components
Approximate duration
3 to 5 minutes
Population
Adults
Modality
assessment with anthropometric measurements
Terms of contract
Weight and height must be measured, and weight from the past 3 to 6 months known in order to calculate unintentional weight loss. If these cannot be obtained, use the alternative methods and subjective criteria from the BAPEN guide. Screening is repeated depending on the setting: weekly in hospitals, monthly in care homes, and annually in the community for at-risk groups.
Score interpretationMUST
Total score of the three risk components (BMI, recent unintentional weight loss, acute disease effect); risk level 0, 1, or ≥ 2.
Total score
First reading
0
to
0
Low nutritional risk.
1
to
1
Moderate nutritional risk.
2
to
6
High nutritional risk.
0: low risk; 1: moderate risk; ≥ 2: high risk.
Detailed management must follow the official MUST and local procedures.
Frequently asked questions
Does MUST diagnose malnutrition?
What should I do if the weight or height are not available?
What are its limitations?
Sources and references
BAPEN
BAPEN, MUST toolkit
In practice
Full name
Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool
Method
assessment with anthropometric measurements
Language
French
Authors
BAPEN
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