Content validation and application of an instrument to evaluate the acceptance of hospital diets

Introduction: Despite being a risk factor for malnutrition, the acceptance of hospital diet is still poorly studied, and in most hospital nutrition services, it is evaluated subjectively.Aim: To elaborate, validate the content and apply an in-strument to evaluate the acceptance of hospital diets.Methods: This was a study carried out in a referral hospi-tal for the treatment of infectious diseases in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After preparing the instrument based on forms avail-able in the scientific literature, the instrument was sent to a panel of experts to be validated using the modified Delphi technique, and posteriorly, was applied to a sample of hospi-talized patients, and the acceptance obtained compared to the direct weighing method of food remains through the Pearson correlation. The Research Ethics Committee of the in-stitution approved the study and all the participants signed a free and informed consent term.Results: The elaborated instrument was considered vali-dated by the panel in the second round and its final version presents illustrations that represent the six meals a day, di-vided into four parts, allowing the nutritionist to fill in per-centages, according to patient's report. Lunch and dinner were the least accepted meals, and the most reported rea-sons were hyporexia, nausea and vomiting. In the compari-son between the acceptance measured by the instrument and the weighing method, most preparations showed a strong correlation.Conclusions: We consider the use of the modified Delphi technique as useful and appropriate for the improvement of the elaborated instrument. The instrument constituted a low cost tool, quick and simple to apply. We expect that its use could be expanded to other institutions, with the necessary adaptations, contributing to the better dietary assessment of hospitalized patients.