Mortality and Nutritional Status in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

Background: Malnutrition, which is a powerful predictor of morbidity and mortality, is common in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Therefore, for a better overall outcome, adequate nutrition is very important for such patients. Objectives: The current study mainly aimed to investigate the relationship between nutritional markers, anthropometric parameters such as body mass index (BMI), and routine laboratory parameters with mortality in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Patients and Methods: The demographic characteristics, mortality rate, duration of hemodialysis, serum albumin concentration, total protein, triglyceride, cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine of 260 patients treated from May 2001 to July 2011 were analyzed, retrospectively. The patients were followed-up regularly for one year. Lastly, the year follow-up was completed by 90 patients. Results: The results showed that statistically significant correlation between albumin serum levels (P = 0.001) and duration of hemodialysis (P = 0.001) with survival in patients undergoing hemodialysis. No statistically significant correlation was found between gender, BMI, triglyceride, cholesterol, BUN, and creatinine with survival in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Conclusions: The results of the current study suggested that low serum albumin levels and duration of hemodialysis were strong predictors of mortality and morbidity among patients undergoing hemodialysis.