Evaluation of nutritional markers and body composition in hemodialysis patients

This study was aimed to evaluate nutritional status, to investigate the relationship between malnutrition and body composition and biochemical parameters in hemodialysis patients. 102 (51 female and 51 male) chronic hemodialysis patients aged between 18 and 75 years participated in this cross-sectional study in a dialysis center in Izmir. Personal information, information about diseases and treatments, routine biochemical test, body composition monitor results of patients were taken. Antropometric measurements and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) were applied on patients. Data of the study were analyzed with SPSS 20.0 program. Percentile, mean, standart deviation, Independent Samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used in the analysis of data. The level of significance was accepted as p<0.05. In our study, the mean age of the patients was 57.7 ± 11.9 years and the mean dialysis duration was 88.5 ± 71 months. According to the Subjective Global Assessment, %17.7 of the patients were determined to have moderate or severe malnutrition. According to the Body Mass Index classification, 3.9% of the patients were found to be underweight, 38.2% were normal weight, 37.3% were overweight and 20.6% were obese. There was no significant difference between albumin, total protein, hemoglobin and creatinine levels (p>0.05), whereas triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL, bicarbonate, uric acid and URR levels were significantly different between malnourished and well-nourished patients (p<0.05). BMI, fat tissue index (FTI), body fat percentage, adipose tissue mass, upper mid-arm circumference and triceps skin fold thickness were found to be lower in malnourished patients compared to well-nourished patients (p<0.05). There was no significant relationship between malnutrition and dialysis duration and age (p>0.05). These results suggest that the nutritional status of hemodialysis patients is related to some anthropometric measurements and biochemical parameters. The follow-up of nutritional status of these patients, which are at risk for malnutrition is thought to be important. Key words: Hemodialysis; Nutritional Status; Malnutrition; Subjective Global Assessment