Dietary interventions with dietitian involvement in adults with chronic kidney disease: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: A comprehensive evidence base is needed to support recommendations for the dietetic management of adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The present study aimed to determine the effect of dietary interventions with dietitian involvement on nutritional status, well-being, kidney risk factors and clinical outcomes in adults with CKD. METHODS: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and EMBASE.com were searched from January 2000 to November 2019. Intentional weight loss and single nutrient studies were excluded. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Effectiveness was summarised using the mean difference between groups for each outcome per study. RESULTS: Twelve controlled trials (1906 participants) were included. High fruit and vegetable intake, as well as a multidisciplinary hospital and community care programme, slowed the decline in glomerular filtration rate in adults with stage 3-4 CKD. Interventions addressing nutrition-related barriers increased protein and energy intake in haemodialysis patients. A Mediterranean diet and a diet with high n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids improved the lipid profile in kidney transplant recipients. CONCLUSIONS: A limited number of studies suggest benefits as a result of dietary interventions that are delivered by dietitians and focus on diet quality. We did not identify any studies that focussed on our primary outcome of nutritional status or studies that examined the timing or frequency of the nutritional assessment. This review emphasises the need for a wider body of high-quality evidence to support recommendations on what and how dietetic interventions are delivered by dietitians for adults with CKD.

A new renal inpatient nutrition screening tool (Renal iNUT): a multicenter validation study.

BACKGROUND: Screening of patients with renal disease for malnutrition risk on hospital admission provides an opportunity to improve prognosis. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Renal iNUT, a novel renal-specific inpatient nutrition screening tool. METHODS: Adult inpatient admissions to three renal units were screened using the Renal Inpatient Nutrition Screening Tool (iNUT) and the generic Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and compared against nutritional status using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) as the standard. Construct validity was assessed by Handgrip Strength (HGS), reliability by repeated iNUT administration and nurse opinion by questionnaire. RESULTS: Of 141 admissions, 45% were malnourished (SGA score B or C). Using iNUT, 49% patients had increased malnutrition risk (score ≥1), 35.5% requiring dietetic referral (score ≥2). MUST indicated 20% at increased malnutrition risk and dietetic referral in 7%. iNUT was more sensitive than MUST in identifying increased malnutrition risk (92.1% vs 44.4%) and dietetic referral (69.8% vs 15.9%). Specificity of iNUT for increased risk was 82.1% and 92.3% for dietetic referral. 47% patients had sarcopenic-range HGS, with significant difference between iNUT score ≥2 and 0 (p < 0.001). iNUT reliability assessed by kappa was 0.74 (95% CI, 0.58 to 0.9), indicating substantial agreement. Nurse evaluation (n = 71) was highly favorable. CONCLUSIONS: The Renal iNUT is a valid and reliable nutrition screening tool when used by nurses admitting patients to specialist renal wards. In comparison with MUST, use of iNUT is likely to improve the identification of malnourished patients for nutritional intervention and dietetic referral.