Date of Award

5-2006

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences

Abstract

Introduction: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder with serious pulmonary and nutritional implications. Nutrition status has a direct affect on lung function and longevity. Screening patients for growth velocity makes it possible to identify patients at nutritional risk. This identification is the first step towards appropriate nutritional interventions. The current screening tool used for children and adolescents with CF is not reliable and leaves too much room for clinical judgment. It is for this reason that a new screening tool was developed. Methods: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation established a panel of experts for the purpose of developing an evidence based screening tool to be used for children and adolescents with CF aged 2 to 20 years. Catherine McDonald, PhD, RD, was then given the responsibility to develop the actual tool and so licit feedback from other clinical nutrition experts. This feedback included a qualitative feedback questionnaire and a validation survey. The qualitative comments were used to edit and revise the tool. The revised tool went through a validation process which included three phases. The final draft was then created and validated. Results: The qualitative feedback questionnaire showed that clinicians felt the proposed nutrition screening tool was capable of accurately reflecting nutrition risk most of the time to some o f the time. The validation study was still underway at the time this paper was written. Conclusion: The new screening tool for children and adolescents with CF will be a reliable, valid, and useful tool. It is anticipated that because clinical nutrition professionals have been involved in the development process, the screening tool will be widely accepted and used. This would make it an integral part of the treatment process for children and adolescents with CF aged 2 to 20.

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Faculty Mentor

Nedra K. Christensen

Departmental Honors Advisor

Noreen B. Schvaneveldt