Abstract: Objective To compare the effects of global leadership initiative on malnutrition (GLIM) criteria and patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) in evaluating malnutrition among the elderly patients with advanced cancer. Methods A total of 288 elderly patients with advanced cancer were screened by nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS2002) and PG-SGA, then those patients with NRS2002 score≥3 were evaluated with GLIM.The consistency of GLIM criteria and PG-SGA in diagnosing malnutrition among the elderly patients with advanced cancer was analyzed. Results The NRS2002 score of the patients was 3.33±1.34, and the incidence rate of nutritional risk was 71.18% (205/288).There were significant differences in the incidence rates of nutritional risk among the patients with different genders, ages, tumor locations and stages (P<0.05).The incidence rate of malnutrition assessed by GLIM criteria was 58.33% (168/288), which was 69.79% assessed by PG-SGA.According to PG-SGA or GLIM criteria, gender, age, tumor location and stage were the influencing factors of malnutrition in the elderly patients with advanced cancer (P<0.05). Kappa test showed that GLIM criteria and PG-SGA had good consistency in the diagnosis of malnutrition among the elderly patients with advanced cancer (Kappa=0.71,P<0.01).Stratified by the general condition of the patients, GLIM criteria and PG-SGA had good consistency in diagnosing malnutrition in different genders, ages, tumor locations and stages, and their Kappa values ranged from 0.63 to 0.78. Conclusions The incidence rates of nutritional risk and malnutrition are high among the elderly patients with advanced cancer. GLIM criteria and PG-SGA have good consistency in diagnosing malnutrition among the elderly patients with advanced cancer.

Key words: nutritional risk screening, malnutrition, patient-generated subjective global assessment, global leadership initiative on malnutrition