Cardiovascular Nutrition Assessment Update: What’s in Your Toolbox?

This product is free for SCAN members.

This webinar was presented live on November 4, 2020.

Dietary assessment is a critical component in cardiovascular patient care. Goals of assessment are two-fold: a) to provide a means to assess how closely eating habits meet current recognized dietary guidelines and b) to provide guidance regarding need for clinical MNT and/or diet education. Any nutrition assessment tool needs to be tested as valid and reliable; and a standardized format is especially important for the consistency needed in programs such as cardiac rehabilitation. This webinar will review factors to consider in selecting a dietary assessment tool for cardiovascular nutrition care, and discuss options for choosing a tool that is appropriate for different settings.

The original context of the speakers' investigation into dietary assessment tools was in response to a request by members of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) regarding the best diet assessment tool for use in cardiac rehab. A team of SCAN dietitians conducted a review of the literature and concluded that many tools for general or CVD populations focused on total or saturated fat intake without addressing overall dietary pattern, and many were not validated. The outcome of this review yielded recommendation of two tools: New Leaf-DRA (Dietary Risk Assessment) and NutraScreen. The DRA has been updated to align with current guidelines and renamed Picture Your Plate^™. The validation study was recently published in the Journal of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

Both Picture Your Plate^™ and NutraScreen provide a total score and several sub-scores that can be useful in nutrition education and counseling. Further research that assesses association of dietary assessment tool scores with changes in relevant health and biometric outcomes could support establishment of potential benchmarks for quality assessment and have far-ranging influence. The pros and cons of these and several other tools and will be discussed.

CPEU: 1.0
CPE Level: 2

Learning Objectives

1. After this presentation, participants will be able to identify critical factors to consider in choosing a dietary assessment tool for use in cardiovascular nutrition care, and will be able to evaluate unique strengths and limitations of several dietary assessment tools, including Picture Your Plate.
2. After this presentation, participants will be able to describe the development and validation of the Picture Your Plate dietary intake assessment tool.
3. After this presentation, participants will be able to explain how RDNs can use insights gained on total and sub scores of two dietary assessment tools (Picture Your Plate and NutraScreen) to enhance cardiovascular nutrition care.

Speakers

Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND

Karen Collins is a registered dietitian nutritionist, consultant and writer who focuses on translating current nutrition science related to heart health, cancer prevention and their intersection for healthcare professionals and the public. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed book chapters and research summaries for health professionals, and over 2,000 nutrition-related articles for the public. A Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Karen was a lead organizer in a project of SCAN RDNs reviewing dietary assessment tools for use in cardiac rehabilitation programs. She is a co-author of the Picture Your Plate dietary assessment tool validation study published in 2020.

Ellen Aberegg, MA, RDN, LD, FAACVPR

Ellen Aberegg has worked in the field of nutrition and cardiac rehabilitation for more than 30 years as exercise physiologist, dietitian and program manager. She has a BS (Medical Dietetics) and MA (Exercise Physiology) from The Ohio State University. She now works as a consultant to cardiac rehab (CR) and pulmonary rehab (PR) programs regarding nutrition, education, and management. Ellen is a Fellow of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), serves as SCAN's liaison to AACVPR, and is active in several AACVPR committees. She has authored nutrition chapters in AACVPR's manual for professional certification, as well as CR and PR guidelines. Ellen was a co-lead in the revision of the DRA and is first author of the Picture Your Plate dietary assessment tool validation study published in 2020.