Nutritional Risk Screening and Clinical Outcomes in a Tertiary University Hospital: A Real-World Retrospective Cohort Study

The study examined the implementation of NRS-2002 nutritional risk screening at the University of Leipzig Medical Center in Germany between 2013 and 2023 in a sample of 178,607 hospitalizations. Results showed that 3.1% of patients had elevated nutritional risk (NRS ≥3 points) and 12.2% had positive initial screening without documented final assessment. Patients with elevated nutritional risk had higher rates of 30-day readmission, intensive care unit admission, in-hospital mortality, and longer hospital stays. After adjustment for age and sex, elevated nutritional risk remained associated with 1.57-fold higher risk of readmission, 1.85-fold higher risk of ICU admission, and 3.62-fold higher risk of death. The study highlights challenges in implementing complete nutritional screening pathways in routine hospital care.