OBJECTIVE: This analysis explores the nutritional status of adult U.S. peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. DESIGN: The Peritoneal Dialysis Core Indicators Study is a prospective cross-sectional prevalence survey describing the care provided to a random sample of adult U.S. PD patients. METHODS AND POPULATION: Prevalence data were collected from a national random sample of 1381 adult PD patients participating in the United States End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program. RESULTS: The median age of these patients was 55 years, 61% were Caucasian; the leading cause of ESRD was diabetes mellitus. Age, sex, size, peritoneal permeability, dialysis adequacy, and nutritional indices did not differ between patients on continuous ambulatory PD and patients on automated PD. The dialysis prescriptions employed achieved mean weekly Kt/V urea (wKt/V) and creatinine clearance (wCCr) values of 2.22 +/- 0.57 and 67.8 +/- 22.5 L/1.73 m2/week, respectively. The PD patients were large, with a mean body weight of 77 +/- 21 kg and body mass index (BMI) of 27 +/- 8.6 kg/m2. The mean serum albumin of these patients was 3.5 +/- 0.51 g/dL, and 43% of values fell below the National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative's desired range. The PD patients had a normalized protein equivalent of nitrogen appearance (nPNA) of 1.0 +/- 0.57 g/kg/day, a normalized creatinine appearance rate (nCAR) of 17 +/- 7.3 mg/kg/day, and an estimated lean body mass (%LBM) of 62% +/- 18% of body weight. Serum albumin correlated positively with patient size, nCAR, and nPNA, but negatively with age, the presence of diabetes mellitus, female gender, erythropoietin dose, the creatinine dialysate-to-plasma ratio results of peritoneal equilibration testing, and the dialysis portion of the wCCr. The duration of ESRD experience correlated negatively with both serum albumin and patient size, although these relationships were complex. CONCLUSION: Peritoneal dialysis patients generally have marginal serum albumin levels, a finding incongruent with alternative measures of nutritional status, such as weight, BMI, and creatinine generation. Serum albumin is reduced in patients with high peritoneal permeability (i.e., rapid transporters) and, because these patients generally have higher than average wCCr values, serum albumin is inversely correlated with the dialysis component of the wCCr. The presumptive nutritional indicators (BMI, %LBM, nPNA, and serum albumin) provide disparate estimates, varying from 10% to 50% for the prevalence of nutritionally stressed PD patients.

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