Correlates of poor appetite among hemodialysis patients

Objective: Poor appetite is an important barrier to adequate nutrition among hemodialysis patients. We sought to determine the relationship between overall appetite and (1) patient demographic and medical characteristics and (2) appetite for specific foods. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: All 22 chronic hemodialysis units in northeast Ohio. Patients: Two hundred ninety-eight randomly selected patents. Intervention: Interview and chart abstraction. Main outcome measure: Overall patient appetite. Results: Of all patients, 12% reported poor overall appetite, 20% reported fair appetite, and 69% reported good appetite. There was no relationship between overall appetite and patient demographic (age, gender, race, education, health insurance) or medical (cause of renal failure, years on dialysis, number of comorbid conditions, [Formula presented]) characteristics. There was little relationship between overall appetite and appetite for 20 specific foods. Of 34 patients with poor overall appetite, 29 (85%) identified at least three specific protein foods for which they had good appetite and 28 (82%) identified at least three nonprotein foods for which they had good appetite. Conclusion: Poor overall appetite is not associated with patient characteristics or appetite for specific foods. Most patients with poor overall appetite have good appetite for several specific foods. Helping patients increase the intake of these foods may be beneficial in improving nutritional status.