Abstract
Background and Aims
In patients who undergo hemodialysis (HD), malnutrition is a frequent complication associated with higher risk of death, extended hospital stay, physical limitation, and decline of activities of daily living (ADL). Therefore, proper assessment for malnutrition in this population is important for effective disease management. The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) released new criteria for diagnosing and grading malnutrition. Nevertheless, only very few studies have investigated malnutrition prevalence on the basis of the GLIM criteria in hemodialysis patients. Hence, the usefulness of the GLIM criteria’s application in hemodialysis patients remains unclear.
The aims of this study were (1) to examine whether malnutrition diagnosed on the basis of the GLIM criteria will produce equivalent results with that diagnosed with the use of existing nutritional indicators and (2) to evaluate the association between the GLIM criteria and decline of physical function and ADL in Japanese patients on HD.
Method
This cross-sectional study included a total of 185 outpatients who undergo HD three times a week. We measured the existing nutritional indicators (GNRI, MNA-SF, phase angle, mid-arm muscle circumference, and calf circumference), physical function (Fried Scale, handgrip strength, usual gait speed, Short Physical Performance Battery, and physical activity), and ADL status (cumulative score of Barthel Index and instrumental ADL). On the basis of the GLIM criteria, the patients were classified into two groups (no malnutrition and malnutrition). In addition, in case of nutritional risk, nutritional assessment was performed by evaluation of the phenotypic (unintentional weight loss, low BMI, and/or reduced muscle mass) and etiologic (reduced intake or assimilation and/or inflammatory response) factors. Malnutrition was diagnosed if a patient has one or more of these items. The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to examine the association between the GLIM criteria and existing nutritional indicators, physical function, and ADL status.
Results
Malnutrition was diagnosed in 41.1% of the participants based on the GLIM criteria. In contrast, on the basis of the existing nutritional indicators (GNRI, MNA-SF, phase angle, mid-arm muscle circumference, and calf circumference), malnutrition was diagnosed in 22.2%, 58.3%, 48.6%, 57.9%, and 54.6%, respectively. The ANCOVA results, adjusted for the patient’s characteristics, revealed that the malnutrition group had significantly lower score than the non-malnutrition group in the existing nutritional indicators (all P < 0.001) (Figure). Furthermore, the malnutrition group had significantly higher Fried Scale scores, lower handgrip strength results, and lower ADL status than the non-malnutrition group, even after potential confounder adjustment (all P < 0.05).
Conclusion
The GLIM criteria could be one of the useful tools for screening the risk of malnutrition, frailty, lower handgrip strength, and lower ADL status in patients who undergo HD.
Phase angle values, a good indicator of nutritional status, are associated with median value of hemoglobin rather than hemoglobin variability in hemodialysis patients
