Hi there, hoping someone can help clarify what is best practice in terms of assessing nutritional requirements, having been told all through uni and training that schofield equation was the gold standard, i now learn that it was based on a study on italian soldiers and not exactly representative of your average patient!
My question therefore is how accurate is it? what is the best method for calculating requirements?
pepper
Re: nutritional requirements
danica
15-08-2007 04:36
Any estimation of nutritional req's is exactly that...an estimate!
The Schofield is still in use, because there isnt a lot else out there to use, but unless you are actually going to measure enegry expenditure (practically very difficult in a clinical setting), then you must use what is available to make an evidence-based clinical judgement.
Re: nutritional requirements
emerson
15-08-2007 04:37
well i know its an estimate what i'm wondering is whether there is any point in doing a long equation if its probably inaccurate, are we better of using a range 0f 25-35 kcal/kg depending on clinical condition instead?
Re: nutritional requirements
tallan
15-08-2007 04:39
I know where you are coming from, however if you had to stand-up and justify where you got your estimation from, what evidence would you have to back up 25-35?
Like many things, there is no denitive answer, you must use what evidence / dat that you have, interpret it clinically and review!
