Malnutrition in Hemodialysis Patients and Predicting Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Protein-energy malnutrition, one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, is common in dialysis patients. In this way, several characteristics and socio-economic factors could influence nutritional stats. The diagnosis of malnutrition and its related factors can assist the healthcare team in planning for the care of hemodialysis patients. Objectives: In this study, we are aimed to determine the nutritional status among hemodialysis patients and characteristics and also socio-economic factors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 312 patients were selected randomly. Modified subjective global assessment (SGA) tool was used for data collection. The data was expressed as mean ± SD and frequency. Logistic regression analysis was performed to detect predicting factors of malnutrition using SPSS software. Results: About 65.1% of hemodialysis patients suffered from mild-to-moderate malnutrition and 15% of patients were severely malnourished. Most patients were married (82.7%), low- income (63.1%), illiterate (63.8%) and employed (52.2 percent). Following the sub-group analysis, we found significant weight changes in malnourished patients (P value = 0.000). In addition, we found that severely malnourished patients were older, married or divorced, unemployed and lived in large families compared with other groups (P value < 0.05). The illiterate people were in greater risk for malnutrition (AOR = 8.14, 95% CI: 1.8 - 36.89). Conclusions: Socio-economic factors such as income, education, living conditions, marital status, family size and employment affect nutritional status. Therefore, taking socio-economic factors into account can help the treatment team in the care of hemodialysis patients.