Low inter-rater reliability between nurses and researchers for the NRS-2002 screening tool for malnutrition in a hematological hospital ward

Background & aims: NRS-2002 is one of the recommended tools to screen hospitalized patients for malnutrition. NRS-2002 is considered as valid and reliable, but little is known about the inter-rater reliability between different groups of healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to test the inter-rater reliability of the NRS-2002 tool between department nurses and researchers.

Methods: Inter-rater reliability was measured between the NRS-2002 scores given by department nurses and researchers, using data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) at a hematological department in a Norwegian hospital.

Results: The mean NRS-2002 score was significantly higher when using researchers' scores compared to the department nurses' scores. The total agreement between the two groups of raters was 59%, kappa = 0.27.

Conclusion: The inter-rater reliability of the NRS-2002 scores given by nurses and researchers was low. More research is needed to study if this is applicable also to other patient groups and in other wards.