The PG-SGA© was originally developed as a continuous rather than categorical assessment, whereas originally the SGA was considered a categorical assessment (A = well-nourished, B=moderate, or suspected malnutrition and C = severely malnourished).

Dr. Jeejeebhoy, Dr. Detsky and Dr. Baker developed the SGA at the University of Toronto and first published it in a usable form in 1987. The PG-SGA expanded the information captured but closely parallels this information of the SGA. Interestingly, after the development of the Scored PG-SGA©, a number of SGA variations which include scoring have been developed.

As a way to facilitate utilization more widely where nutritional screening and assessment were not integrated into physician standards of care, the creators of the Scored PG-SGA© (Ottery, Kasenic, and DeBolt) developed in the early 1990’s — in conjunction with input by patients receiving care at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia – a standardized form that patients would complete while waiting to see their physician, nurse, or dietitian. Soon after, a scoring system was developed with validation of the scoring in the setting of a volunteer research network through the Society of Nutritional Oncology Adjuvant Therapy (NOAT) in 1996, involving approximately 2,150 patients at 55 institutions internationally.