Description of a standardized nutrition classification plan and its relation to nutritional outcomes in children with cystic fibrosis

ObjectiveBetter nutrition enhances lung function and increases survival for children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Therefore, we developed a standardized strategy to evaluate nutritional status and create individualized treatment plans to ensure that all patients received the same high-quality care in a busy CF Center. MethodsA quality improvement approach was undertaken to develop a novel nutrition classification strategy to identify and treat children with subtle manifestations of nutritional deficits in addition to those with obvious nutritional issues.ResultsDuring the 15-month study period, the median body mass index (BMI) percentile increased from 35.2 (0-95.9) to 42.0 (0-97.7), p <. 005. Additionally, the number of children with a BMI ≥ 50th percentile increased by 11.8%.ConclusionsAdoption of a standardized approach to nutritional assessment and treatment led to significant improvement in nutritional outcomes of CF patients, demonstrating that systematic changes in clinical practice can improve clinical outcomes substantially over a short period of time.