FREQUENCY OF MALNUTRITION AMONG PATIENTS ON REPEATED DIALYSIS DUE TO CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Objective: To determine frequency of patients with malnutrition on repeated dialysis due to chronic kidney disease. Design and duration: This is a cross sectional study, completed in one year of duration. Setting: This study was conducted in dialysis unit of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore. Patients and methods: Patients coming to dialysis unit for repeated dialysis due to chronic kidney disease were selected for study using randomized sampling technique. Patients having any other co-morbidity other than CKD or admitted in hospital due to severe illness were excluded from the study. Those patients were studied who were on dialysis for more than a year. P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Confidence interval was 95% with 5% margin of error. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data. Results were calculated in the form of percentages and frequency and presented via tables and graphs. Results: This study was conducted on 170 cases with chronic kidney disease. Mean age of patients was 49±5.8 years. There were 56.4% male and 43.5% female cases in study group. Mean duration of disease was 3.8±2.3 years. Mild malnutrition was present in 28.2% cases, moderate in 54.1% and severe malnutrition in 17.6% patients. Conclusion: Majority of patients on repeated hemodialysis due to CKD have mild to moderate malnutrition which may become severe with the passage of time. Key words: Malnutrition, Chronic kidney disease, Hemodialysi