Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Protein-energy malnutrition appears frequently and early in course of chronic renal failure and represents a determining element of the morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to evaluate spontaneous food intake and to study the inflammatory profile of elderly people on hemodialysis.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive study involved 40 elderly hemodialysis subjects. All patients underwent a complete clinical examination and a biological assessment with a dosage of C-Reactive protein and a dietary survey by 3 day recording.

Results: The average age of the population was 71±5.9 years. Evaluation of contributions energy consumption of patients showed an average daily intake of 25.3±12.3 kcal/kg of ideal weight/d. The average total energy intake of patients on the day of dialysis and non-dialysis was respectively 29.7±17.7 kcal/kg and 20.9±6.9 kcal/kg with a statistically significant difference (P=0.001). The ration Average protein content was 0.99±0.57 g/kg on the non-dialysis day. It was decreasing statistically significantly (P=0.005) on the non-dialysis day at 0.73±0.28 g/kg. The mean CRP of the study population was 12.3±4.2 mg/l. He exists a positive and statistically significant correlation between the rate of CRP and weight (r= 0.41; P< 0.05). The analytical study showed no positive association between CRP level and the following factors: age, gender, creatinine clearance and type of nephropathy.

Conclusion: Protein-energy malnutrition is a common pathological situation and serious in elderly hemodialysis patients who may be life-threatening. The development of a Tunisian nutritional guide intended for the elderly hemodialysis is imperative.