Nutritional assessment in the elderly on chronic haemodialysis in subsaharan Africa

Abstract

Background Nutritional disorders and metabolic dysfunctions are numerous and common in chronic kidney disease. They frequently lead to malnutrition, however, these complications are worsened as chronic kidney disease progresses and becomes more significant at the dialysis stage. The aim of this study was to compare nutritional assessment according to the Seven-Point Subjective Global Assessment with that according to anthropometric parameters in elderly people on hemodialysis. Patients and Methods This was a cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study over 1 month from 01 August 2020 to 31 August 2020 in 10 hemodialysis centers in Dakar, in elderly people on chronic hemodialysis. Nutritional assessment was performed according to Seven-Point Subjective Global Assessment and anthropometric parameters. Results There were 92 patients included, 52 women and 40 men. The mean age of the patients was 66.05 ± 5.48 years. Anorexia was present in 48.91% of patients. The average body mass index was 23.75 ± 3.77 kg/m². The average body fat percentage was 34.99 ± 5.32%. The mean brachial circumference was 28.49 ± 3.99 cm. The mean brachial muscle circumference was 21.85 ± 3.14 cm. With 7-point SGA assessment, there were 14.10% of patients with mild to moderate malnutrition and no patients with severe malnutrition. In bivariate analysis, the 7-point SGA was correlated with the presence of anorexia (P = 0.001), body mass index (P = 0.001), brachial muscle circumference (P = 0.030), and brachial circumference (P = 0.010). Conclusion We found that Seven-Point Subjective Global Assessment was correlated with anthropometric parameters for nutritional assessment in elderly people on hemodialysis.