Modified Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (m-NUTRIC) score to assess nutritional status and outcome in patients of chronic kidney disease: 2-year cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health concern in India and has high prevalence, morbidity, and mortality due to significant percentages of subjects with poor socioeconomic status as well as poor management of health resources. Many apparatuses are available to assess nutrition status among patients of CKD. This study was conducted to identify nutritional risk in CKD patients using a modified Nutrition Risk in Critically ill (m-NUTRIC) score without using interleukin-6 values. Method: This prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital for a time period of 2 years from 2020 to 2022. The modification of diet in renal disease approach was used for the staging of the CKD. m-NUTRIC scores were calculated and scores ≥5 were graded in high-risk categories and were associated with adverse outcomes, whereas scores <5 were categorized as low risk. Result: Among 250 patients with CKD enrolled, 65 patients were in the age group 18 to 40 years having a mean m-NUTRIC score of 4.46 ± 1.76; in the age group 40 to 60 years 5.18 ± 1.67; and in the age group older than 60 years 5.88 ± 1.77. The mean (standard deviation [SD]) m-NUTRIC score in hemodialysis group was 5.69 ± 1.63 and in nonhemodialysis group was 4.15 ± 1.66. At m-NUTRIC cutoff of 5, predicted hemodialysis is having 66% specificity and 77% sensitivity. It predicts mortality with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 89% at a cutoff of m-NUTRIC of 6. Conclusion: This study showed that m-NUTRIC score may be an important tool that determines requirement of hemodialysis and mortality in CKD patients. Moreover, these scores were higher in stages 4 and 5 of CKD.