Intradialytic eating practices and health outcomes among hemodialysis patients, cross-sectional study

Abstract

Intradialytic eating practices is a subject of debate among hemodialysis patients and is associated with a variety of clinical implications. This study aimed to investigate eating practices during hemodialysis and their influence on health outcome, including various symptoms experienced during dialysis, intradialytic hypotension, dialysis adequacy, and malnutrition. A cross-sectional study was conducted on hemodialysis patients. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information related to sociodemographic, medical history, lifestyle, dialysis, and eating practices. The occurrence of intradialytic hypotension was determined according to the patients' blood pressure measured at the beginning and end of the session, and dialysis adequacy was determined based on the ultrafiltration rate of the patients. Malnutrition was evaluated using renal inpatient screening tool (renal iNUT), and biochemical data was recruited from the patient's hospital records. A total of 260 hemodialysis patients participated in this study. The mean age was 51.29±15.92, and half of the participants were females. The findings showed no significant association between intradialytic eating practices and symptoms developed during dialysis session, intradialytic hypotension, or malnutrition (p>0.05). According to Chi-square test, a statistically significant association was found between eating practices and dialysis adequacy (p=0.037), hemoglobin level (p<0.001), and phosphorous level (p=0.003). Eating practices were not associated with symptoms that developed during dialysis sessions, intradialytic hypotension, or malnutrition, according to our findings. However, findings reveal that it is possible that eating practices may affect the adequacy of dialysis.