Evaluation of Malnutrition by Skinfold Thickness Measurement and SGA-DMS among Haemodialysis Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Protein-energy malnutrition occurs in a large portion of patients with chronic renal failure. It leads to the consequences of various factors like hormonal imbalance, reduced food intake caused by uremic toxicity, superimposed illnesses, infections, and protein and energy metabolism disturbances. Malnutrition could be acute or chronic in hemodialysis patients. One hundred fifty-two patients were involved in this cross-sectional study; we utilized SGA- DMS (Subjective Global Assessment- Dialysis Malnutrition Score). Percentage body fat through Skinfold Thickness Measurement was calculated using Durnin and Womersley equation. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the correlation between the assessed parameters and the scores obtained from SGA-DMS. Student t-test was used to analyze the mean percentage of body fat observed between men and women. The values were considered statistically significant if the p-value was < 0.05. On assessing the anthropometric parameters, the bicep skinfold thickness was positively correlated (p value=0.012) with the SGA- DMS tool, while all others were negatively correlated with the SGA- DMS. Percentage body fat results imply that patients have higher body fat levels, with males recording 31.34 ± 2.9 and women recording 37.35 ± 2.5, being statistically significant. Our study has not found significance in correlating SGA- DMS and factors like age, weight, etc. However, subjects observed have healthy nutritional status and mainly were over-weight. By employing other methods along with SGA-DMS, a better assessment of malnutrition could be made possible. In addition, efficient nutritional advice from healthcare, adherence to diet patterns, and periodic evaluation may prevent or minimise malnutrition.