Dietary intakes and some biochemical markers in hemodialysis patients

Purpose: Intake of energy and some nutrients is frequently inadequate in dialysis patients because of eating and appetite disorders due to uremic syndrome. Inadequate energy and protein intake cause to malnutrition. Anthropometric measurements, biochemical markers and dietary intake records have great importance in determining the nutritional status of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Therefore this study was planned to determination of daily energy, nutrient intake and some biochemical markers of adult hemodialysis patients. Method and Material:  A hundred and thirty six (male = 73, female = 63) clinically stable HD patients were enrolled in this study. All patients were taken 24-hour dietary recall. The daily energy and nutrient intakes of patients were calculated by food consumption records and anthropometric measurements were taken. Results: The mean age was found 45.5±13.51 years. The ratio of patients with body mass index (BMI) below 18.5 kg/m 2 was 7.4% and 25 kg/m 2 or upper was 16.9%. Blood hemoglobin, hematocrit, albumin and total protein levels were below the normal levels. The daily dietary energy and protein intakes were found under the recommended level in the study period. A significant positive correlation was found between daily protein intake and serum albumin levels (r=0.210, p=0.014), daily protein intake and serum total protein levels (r=0.201, p=0.019), daily energy intake and serum total protein levels (r=0.178, p=0.039). Conclusions: HD patients often have low protein and energy intakes and most of them suffer from malnutrition. Therefore nutritional status of patients should be evaluated and periodically nutrition education should be given for improving eating habits and increasing dietary compliance is recommended.