Table 2

NICE Criteria for determining people at high risk of developing refeeding problems [13]

Patient has one or more of the following:

- BMI less than 16 kg/m2

- unintentional weight loss greater than 15% within the last 3–6 months

- little or no nutritional intake for more than 10 days

- low levels of potassium, phosphate or magnesium prior to feeding.

Or patient has two or more of the following:

- BMI less than 18.5 kg/m2

- unintentional weight loss greater than 10% within the last 3–6 months

- little or no nutritional intake for more than 5 days

- a history of alcohol abuse or drugs including insulin, chemotherapy, antacids or diuretics.

Mehanna et al. Head & Neck Oncology 2009 1:4   doi:10.1186/1758-3284-1-4