Nutritional status and its associated factors among patients with chronic kidney disease attending in a tertiary center of Nepal

Chronic kidney disease is a global public health concern, characterized by an irreversible deterioration in renal function. Inadequate nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle worsen the vicious cycle of muscle mass and strength loss, which limits the quality of life and rehabilitation opportunities for chronic kidney disease patients. This study aims to assess nutritional status and its association with different factors including physical activity among patients with chronic kidney disease. A cross-sectional study design was used in 290 patients with chronic kidney disease chosen by circular systematic random sampling technique. Standard validated tools: 7-point subjective global assessment was used to assess the nutritional status of the patients using interview and observation techniques. Written informed consent was taken from participants. Descriptive statistics were used to report socio-demographic variables, chronic kidney disease status-related variables, nutritional status and level of physical activity. The test of association was performed using the chi-square test. The logistic regression model was used to determine factors associated with malnutrition. This study showed, 21.8 to 32% of participants had malnutrition and 16.8% to 26.1% of the participants had low activity level. Male participants were less likely to have malnutrition compared to female participants with chronic kidney disease (AOR 0.451, p-value 0.005). Participants having low activity level were about seven times more likely to have malnutrition compared to those having high activity level (AOR 7.022, p-value <0.001). Similarly, participants having moderate activity level were about three times more likely to have malnutrition compared to those having high activity level (AOR 3.263, p-value 0.005). This study provides evidence of a high burden of malnutrition and explained the relationship between malnutrition and low physical activity among chronic kidney disease patients.