Background: Malnutrition is a common problem and a risk factor of mortality in haemodialysis patients. However, there is no consensus for its assessment.
Objective: To assess the relationship between nutritional status, measured by bioimpedance spectrometry (BIS), and laboratory markers of nutritional status, as well as nutritional evolution and its changes after 1 year.
Methods: We performed an observational prospective study on 124 haemodialysis patients (aged 61.2 ±[15.8] years, 62.9% were males, 33.1% were diabetic. Laboratory markers of nutritional status and BIS were implemented at baseline and after one year.
Results: At baseline, lean mass index (LMI) (13.3 [3.6] Kg/m2) was inversely correlated with age (P=.006), and directly with male gender (P=.01). At baseline, the fat mass index (FMI) (mean 11.2 & 6.1kg/m2) correlates directly with the body mass index (P<.001) and the female gender (P=.004). We found no association with comorbidity or inflammatory markers. We did not observe any correlation between lean mass or fat mass modifications and nutritional marker modifications. Patients with LMI gain (>0kg/m2) have lower baseline serum albumin (P=.017), lower baseline LMI (P<.001) and higher baseline FMI (P=.027). Patients with FMI loss (<0kg/m2) have lower systolic blood pressure (P=.04).
Conclusions: Assessment of nutritional status through laboratory parameters does not have a good correlation with body composition parameters or with their modifications.