ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the nutritional risks, prevalence of undernutrition, and nutritional interventions among inpatients in departments of nephrology in some hospitals in Guangzhou, with an attempt to provide evidences for the nutritional support of patients with kidney diseases. Methods Totally 378 adult patients in departments of nephrology in Guangzhou were enrolled in this study by fix-point consecutive sampling. Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) was applied for nutritional risk assessment. Nutrition risk was defined by NRS score ≥3 and undernutrition by BMI ＜ 18.5 kg/m2 or serum albumin ＜ 30 g/L. Nutritional interventions were also evaluated in all patients. The relationship between nutritional risk and nutritional support was analyzed. Results The overall prevalence of undernutrition was 21.7% and the nutritional risk was 41.3%. They were especially high among patients with chronic kidney dysfunction (24. 3% and 60. 7% , respectively). The nutritional risk was 42. 3% in patients accompanied with diabetes (P＞0. 05). Of these 378 patients, 102 (27.0%) received nutritional interventions, in which the nutritional support rate was 50. 0% (78/156) for patients with nutritional risks and 10. 8% (24/222) for those without nutritional risks. Conclusions The nutritional risks and prevalence of undernutrition are high among inpatients in the departments of nephrology in hospitals in Guangzhou. Proper application of nutritional interventions remains a concern. Evidence-based guidelines are required to improve this situation.