The extent of uremic malnutrition at the time of initiation of maintenance hemodialysis is associated with subsequent hospitalization.

Objective: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with signs of uremic malnutrition at the time of initiation of maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) are likely to remain malnourished over the subsequent year. Because poor nutritional status is associated with worse clinical outcomes in MHD patients, we hypothesized that ESRD patients with evidence of uremic malnutrition at the time of initiation of MHD would have more hospitalization events compared with patients initiating MHD without signs of malnutrition during the first year of therapy.

Design/intervention: This was an observational cohort of incident MHD patients, with no specific nutritional intervention.