Effectiveness of Individual Nutritional Counseling in Improving Biochemical Indices and Nutrition Knowledge of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of nutritional counseling on biochemical parameters and nutrition knowledge of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 70 CKD patients, stages 3 and 4, between 25 and 80 years of age. The baseline data were collected from Fortis Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, using interview schedule, which included information on demographic profile, anthropometric measurements, biochemical parameters, medical history, and dietary pattern of the patients. The nutritional counseling was conducted in two phases, the first phase included counseling that was imparted to patients on the basis of their biochemical parameters, followed by monitoring for 4 weeks. Thereafter, second phase counseling, based on results obtained from the first phase, was imparted. The data were once again collected and analyzed after a period of 12 weeks. Results and Conclusion: Hypertensive nephropathy was the most common cause of CKD, followed by diabetes mellitus and glomerulonephritis. Anthropometric measurements showed little change in mean body mass index of the patients, post counseling, however, nonsignificant. On the other hand, a significant decrease was observed in serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, serum potassium, and serum phosphorus levels. Nutritional counseling exhibited a strong positive impact on nutrition knowledge of CKD patients.