Urea to creatinine ratio: a forgotten marker of poor nutritional state in patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment.

Background: Malnutrition is common in subjects undergoing hemodialysis and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Studies investigating factors associated with malnutrition and effect of various interventions to treat these patients are needed. We aimed to screen older and young patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, for malnutrition, and seek its association with clinical factors including anxiety and depression and laboratory variables including urea/creatinine ratio (UCR).

Methods: Duration of hemodialysis treatment, medications taken, anthropometric measurements and routine laboratory results were recorded. Mini nutritional assessment and Beck anxiety and Beck depression inventories were applied. Study variables between subjects with malnutrition, malnutrition risk and normal nutritional states were compared. Older and younger patients were also compared regarding malnutrition and laboratory results. Linear regression analysis was performed to seek independent factors associated with malnutrition score.

Results: Clinical and laboratory data except for UCR were found to be similar among young and older patients. UCR increased, while albumin, body mass index and weight circumference decreased along with worse nutritional state. Low albumin level, body mass index and UCR and higher hemoglobin level and depression score were independent factors associated with malnutrition.

Conclusion: In addition to routinely used markers of malnutrition UCR may provide additional information regarding malnutrition in this population.