Nutritional status of elderly hemodialysis people in Tunisia

Introduction. - The nutritional status of old hemodialysis patients determines their prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spontaneous dietary intake of hemodialysis of elderly patients. Methods. - This cross-sectional descriptive study included 40 elderly hemodialysis patients recruited at the M8 nephrology department of Charles Nicolle hospital in Tunis. All patients went through a clinical examination to specify anthropometric measurements and a dietary survey based on food registration for 3 consecutive days to obtain a nutritional assessment. Results. - The evaluation of patients' energy intake showed an average daily intake of 25.3 +/- 12.3 kcal/kg of ideal weight/day. The average total energy intake of patients on dialysis and non-dialysis days was 29.7 +/- 17.7 kcal/ kg and 20.9 +/- 6.9 kcal/kg, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001). The average daily protein intake was 0.99 +/- 0.57 g/kg on the day of no dialysis. It decreased statistically significantly (P = 0.005) on the day of no dialysis at 0.73 +/- 0.28 g/kg. Phosphorus consumption was excessive on dialysis and non-dialysis days respectively in 20% and 3% of cases. Deficiency of calcium intake affected the entire population studied on the day of non-dialysis. Only 6% of patients had a calcium intake satisfactory on the day of dialysis. Conclusion. - A lot of dietary errors were noticed in our study. The assessment of nutritional intake in elderly people with hemodialysis should be part of their management systematically. (C) 2021 Societe francophone de nephrologie, dialyse et transplantation. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.