Subjective Global Assessment in Hemodialysis Patients in an Iranian Care Hospital

Background: The nutritional status of end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients is a critical index of effective health care delivery. Nutritional status can be estimated by subjective global assessment (SGA).

Aims: We assessed the nutritional status among hemodialysis patients in a governmental-owned hospital, from Northeast Iran.

Materials and Methods: Forty-eight randomly selected hemodialysis patients participated in a cross -sectional descriptive analytical study. We assessed SGA (dry weight, height, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness, mid-arm circumference, mid-arm muscle circumference, and arm muscle area), along with several biochemical and anthropometric indices. Data were analyzed with the SPSS statistical package for Window version 11.0, Chicago, USA. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Of the included patients, three people (6.3%) had “normal” nutritional status; twenty-four people (50%) were mildly malnourished, whereas twenty-one people (43.7%) had fallen into the “moderately” malnourished status. None of the patients had “severe” malnourishment. SGA scores had significant correlation with patients’ age (r=0.335,P=0.035), duration of dialysis (r= 0.332, P=0.031) and education level (r=-0.425 P=0.029). Patient's SGA did no differ by gender. Serum C-reactive protein and creatinine were not significantly associated with SGA score.

Conclusion: In this study, none of patients had severe malnutrition and most of patients had mild or moderate malnourished. Significant correlation were observed between SGA grades and biochemical and anthropometric variables, indicating the value of SGA to assess the nutritional status in hemodialysis patients