American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 20, 1118-1124, Copyright © 1967 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Concordance among Clinical Signs Suggestive of Malnutrition

¹ From the State University of New York College of Medicine, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York

The distribution of 12 selected tissue changes suggestive of malnutrition was assessed from records of 2,729 nutrition clinic patients. The overall frequency of each tissue change was estimated, together with the relative frequency with which each of the other lesions was demonstrated in the same subject. The possible correlations between these physical signs and hemoglobin levels were explored.

Marked variation was found in the overall frequency of individual tissue changes. The frequencies with which secondary lesions were associated with each index lesion showed less variation. Subjects with the least common tissue changes manifested the greatest number of total lesions. Tissue changes were least common in subjects with the lowest hemoglobin concentrations.

The significant concordance noted between some of these tissue changes (i.e., a strong tendency to be positively associated) may reflect the influence of common factors in their causation.