Association of Nutrition Status at Dialysis Start With Long-Term Survival: A 10-Year Retrospective Study

The objectives of the study are to explore the association between nutritional status at the initiation of dialysis and the improvement or worsening of nutrition status during first 3 months of dialysis and first 5 years of survival on dialysis.

Two hundred ninety-seven patients who started dialysis between March 2009 and March 2019 were enrolled in the study. The nutritional status of the patients at dialysis commencement was evaluated by the method of The Integrative Clinical Nutrition Dialysis Score (ICNDS). Improvement or worsening of nutrition status was monitored by calculating the ICNDS slope for each patient enrolled in the study from 3 ICNDS values from the first 3 months on dialysis. The baseline ICNDS and the slope of 3 subsequent monthly ICNDS values were tested for correlation with the odds of all-cause mortality for each of the first 5 years on dialysis.

There was a significant difference between the survival odds of patients who started dialysis with an ICNDS at 75 and those who started dialysis with an ICNDS <75 (hazard ratio [HR] 2.505, confidence interval [Cl] 1.235-5.079, P = .011 after 1 year on dialysis;, HR 1.543, Cl 1.083-2.198, P = .016 after 5 years). Deterioration of nutritional status (a negative ICNDS slope) during the first 3 months of dialysis was associated with increased mortality during 1-3 years after dialysis start, compared to a positive ICNDS slope indicating a stable or improved nutritional status (HR 1.732, Cl 1.151-2.607, P = .008 after 3 years on dialysis).

Nutritional status at initiation of dialysis is associated with long-term (5 years) survival. Deterioration of nutritional status during the first 3 months on dialysis significantly increases the risk of death during the first 3 years on dialysis.