THE ROLE OF DIETARY COMPLIANCE IN SURVIVAL OF HEMODIALYSIS-PATIENTS

This study investigated the relation of three commonly employed physiological parameters of dietary compliance to survival on hemodialysis and how well these variables, independently and relative to important demographic/medical history variables, predict survival in patients. Subjects included 110 hemodialysis patients from two hemodialysis centers in a large southern city. Predictor variables included three indices of dietary compliance: serum potassium, interdialysis weight gain and blood urea nitrogen; three demographic variables: age, sex and race; and three medical history variables: age at onset of chronic dialysis, years on dialysis and number of concurrent diagnoses. In general, the results suggest that dietary compliance variables, as measured in this study, play a minimal role in the survival of end-stage renal failure patients. The dietary variables offered little to the prediction of survival after the effects of important demographic/medical history variables were considered. In summary, the current study failed to provide support for the validity of dietary compliance variables as good predictors of survival in hemodialysis patients.