Objective: The study aims to objectively and precisely describe, in elderly dialysis patients from a single center, the prevalence of malnutrition and severe cognitive/functional impairment and to establish the prognostic role of malnutrition assessment for patient's severe cognitive/functional status.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: A single dialysis center from north-eastern Romania.
Subjects: Eighty-one elderly ambulatory hemodialysis patients.
Intervention: The aim of the study was to establish in hemodialysis elderly patients a correlation between two malnutrition scores [Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA)] and geriatric tests (Geriatric Depression Scale-GDS), daily activities (Activities of Daily Living-ADL, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living-IADL), and cognitive impairment scores (Mini Mental State Examination-MMSE). A correlation between objective malnutrition parameters (bioimpedance lean tissue index (LTI) and fat tissue index (FTI) by bioimpedance) was also assessed.
Main outcome measure: Using area under the curve analysis, two malnutrition scores and bioimpedance assessed nutritional status were explored as possible predictors for the most severe category of functional and cognitive status.
Results: All patients had mild/moderate malnutrition by SGA, while the MNA test reported malnutrition in 14.5%, and 58% of cases. There was no correlation between subjective scores and objective biomarkers of malnutrition (albumin levels, bioimpedance-derived LTI, FTI). ROC curve analysis showed that MNA and SGA predict the most severe category of depression and functional impairment with relatively good accuracy (specificity, sensibility).
Conclusion: The study confirms the important correlation between malnutrition and cognitive/functional impairment and confirms that malnutrition scores could be useful in predicting depression and physical dependance in elderly dialysis patients.
Keywords: Bioimpedance; Dialysis; Geriatric assessment; Malnutrition.