Greek translation and cultural adaptation of the scored patient-generated subjective global assessment: A nutritional assessment tool suitable for cancer patients

The Predictive Role of Preoperative Malnutrition Assessment in Postoperative Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Surgery Due to Gastrointestinal Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Background: Malnutrition affects patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal cancers and contributes to poor postoperative outcomes, including increased complication rates, longer hospital stays, and higher mortality. Despite the availability of several malnutrition screening tools and prognostic scores, their effectiveness in predicting postoperative outcomes remains unclear. This study aimed to compare the predictive accuracy of Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM), Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI), and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score for postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal, hepato-pancreato-biliary and upper gastrointestinal cancers. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study from March 2022 to October 2023 was conducted in two university surgical departments, after registration on ClinicalTrials database (NCT05795374). Patient characteristics, preoperative nutritional status and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Results: In total, 480 patients were enrolled. CONUT and GNRI demonstrated high specificity (over 90% and 80%, respectively) for predicting overall complications, major complications, prolonged hospital stay, mortality, and advanced disease stage across all cancer types. Notably, CONUT showed a specificity over 97% and GNRI over 89.7% for colorectal and upper gastrointestinal cancer patients, respectively, despite their lower sensitivity. On the contrary, PG-SGA and GLIM presented better sensitivity (up to 50%), but slightly lower specificity (up to 86.4%). Conclusions: CONUT and GNRI are valuable for ruling out non-at-risk patients for adverse postoperative outcomes, while PG-SGA and GLIM provide better sensitivity. A step-up approach-initial screening with PG-SGA and GLIM, followed by detailed evaluation with CONUT or GNRI- should be validated in future studies across diverse clinical settings.

Translation, cultural adaptation, and assessment of the linguistic and content validity of the PG-SGA to the Spanish linguistic setting by cancer patients and healthcare professionals

PURPOSE

Malnutrition is frequent in hospitalized patients and is related to functional decline and poorer clinical outcomes. The Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) is a globally implemented malnutrition tool. We aimed to perform a linguistic and content validation of the translation and cultural adaptation of the PG-SGA for the Spanish language setting.

METHODS

This study was conducted in Mexico and Spain. Cancer patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) of both countries were enrolled. We followed the 10 steps of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Principles. Patients and HCPs evaluated comprehensibility (Item: I-CI, Scale: S-CI) and difficulty (Item: I-DI, Scale: S-DI) of the Spanish version of the PG-SGA. HCPs also evaluated content validity (i.e., relevance) of the Spanish PG-SGA (Item: I-CVI, Scale: S-CVI). The data were collected by a questionnaire.

RESULTS

The study enrolled 84 HCPs and 196 cancer patients from both countries. HCPs rated comprehensibility and difficulty of the professional component as excellent (S-CI = 0.95, S-DI = 0.92), and content validity of the full PG-SGA also as excellent. Patients rated comprehensibility (S-CI) and difficulty (S-DI) of the patient-generated component, that is, the PG-SGA Short Form, as "excellent" (S-CI = 0.98 and S-DI = 0.98).

CONCLUSION

Translation and cultural adaptation of the PG-SGA to the Spanish setting according to the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Principles resulted in an instrument perceived as clear and easy to complete by cancer patients and relevant by HCPs to assess the nutritional status.

Polish translation, cultural adaptation, and validity confirmation of the Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment

PURPOSE

The Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA©) is a validated nutritional screening, assessment, triage, and monitoring tool. The aim of this study was to perform translation, cultural adaptation, linguistic, and content validation of the translated and culturally adapted version of the PG-SGA for the Polish setting.

METHODS

The study was performed in concordance with the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Principles. Patients (n = 174) and healthcare professionals (HCPs, n = 188) participated in the study. Comprehensibility and difficulty were assessed by patients for the PG-SGA Short Form, and by HCPs for the professional component. Content validity was assessed for the full PG-SGA by HCPs only. Evaluations were operationalized by a 4-point scale. Item and scale indices were calculated using the average item ratings divided by the number of respondents. Item indices < 0.78 required further analysis of the item, while scale indices ≥ 0.90 were defined as excellent and 0.80-0.89 as acceptable.

RESULTS

The PG-SGA Short Form was rated as excellent for content validity (Scale-CVI = 0.90) by HCPs and easy to comprehend (Scale-CI = 0.96) and use (Scale-DI = 0.94) by patients. The professional component of the PG-SGA was perceived as acceptable for content validity (Scale-CVI = 0.80), comprehension (Scale-CI = 0.87), and difficulty (Scale-DI = 0.80). The physical exam was rated the least comprehensible and the most difficult, and with the lowest content validity. We found significant differences in scale indices (p < 0.05 for all) between HCPs with different professions and between those being familiar with PG-SGA and not.

CONCLUSION

Translation and cultural adaptation of the PG-SGA for the Polish setting preserved the purpose and conceptual meaning of the original PG-SGA. Validation revealed that the Polish version of PG-SGA is well understood and easy to complete by patients and professionals, and is considered relevant by professionals. However, detailed results indicate the need for appropriate training of the Polish HCPs, especially physicians and nurses, mainly in the worksheets related to the metabolic demand and physical exam.

Swedish translation and cultural adaptation of the scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA©)-A validated tool for screening and assessing malnutrition in clinical practice and research

INTRODUCTION

The scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA©) is a validated tool for the screening, assessment and monitoring of malnutrition, and triaging of interventions. It contains a patient-generated component and a healthcare professional (HCP)-generated component.

AIM

To translate the PG-SGA into Swedish, assess the linguistic and content validity of the Swedish version, and ensure conceptional, semantic and operational equivalence to the original English PG-SGA.

METHODS

In line with the methodology used in previously translated and culturally adapted versions, the standardised 10-step process suggested by the International Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) was followed. In step 7, a cross-sectional study targeting patients n = 51 and HCPs n = 52 was performed at a university hospital in Sweden. Using separate questionnaires, patients assessed the patient component and HCPs, the professional component regarding perceived comprehensibility and difficulty (linguistic validity). The HCPs also assessed perceived relevance (content validity) of all items on the PG-SGA. Item indices for comprehensibility (I-CI), difficulty (I-DI) and content validity (I-CVI) were calculated and averaged into scale indices (S-CI, S-DI and S-CVI). Cut-off standards for item and scale indices were used as reference.

RESULTS

The Swedish version of the PG-SGA rated excellent for comprehensibility (S-CI 0.96) and difficulty (S-DI 0.93) for the patient component. The professional component rated acceptable for comprehensibility (S-CI 0.89) and below acceptable for difficulty (S-DI 0.70), with the physical examination rated most difficult (I-DI 0.39 to 0.69). Content validity for the full Swedish PG-SGA was rated excellent (S-CVI 0.94).

CONCLUSION

The patient component was considered clear and easy to complete. The full Swedish PG-SGA was considered relevant by HCPs for screening and assessment of malnutrition. Due to perceived difficulty with the physical examination, training of Swedish HCPs in using the PG-SGA is essential before implementing the professional component into clinical practice or research.