Nutritional status of haemodialysis patients: comparison of Australian cohorts of Aboriginal and European descent

Article first published online: 26 NOV 2013Aim: It is not known whether nutritional status differs between Australian Aboriginal and non Aboriginal haemodialysis subjects. The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional status of Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal haemodialysis subjects at satellite dialysis centres. Method: Seventy-six (25 Aboriginal, 51 non-Aboriginal) prevalent haemodialysis patients were enrolled in a 3-month cross-sectional study. Each month anthropometric and biochemical measurements were collected. Nutritional status (diet history, patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA), handgrip strength) was assessed by a dietitian. Results: PG-SGA detected mild to moderate malnutrition in 35% of Aboriginal patients and 25% of non-Aboriginal patients. The overall physical rating on the PG-SGA was significantly higher in Aboriginal patients, indicating the presence of a greater deficit in muscle mass in this population. Inter-dialytic weight gain was significantly greater in Aboriginal subjects (median [range] 3.0 [2.1–5.7] vs 2.5 [−0.3–5.0] kg, P 1.6 and median normalized protein catabolic rate 1.5). Difficulties were encountered in obtaining dietary information from Aboriginal subjects using the diet history method. Conclusion: Subjects had acceptable parameters of dialysis adequacy; however, 35% had evidence of malnutrition. Further research should focus on establishing a knowledge base for the nutritional management for Aboriginal dialysis subjects, and the development of a validated individual dietary assessment method for use in this population group.Alwyn Todd, Robert Carroll, Meghan Gallagher and Anthony Mead