INTRODUCTION: The Nutrition Committee of the Brazilian Society of Nephrology (SBN) held in 2010 the first Brazilian Nutrition Census in hemodialysis patients. Multicenter data contribute to clinical development and nutritional intervention. OBJECTIVE: To describe epidemiological and nutritional aspects of hemodialysis patients. METHOD: Cross-sectional study in 36 dialysis clinics and 2,622 randomly selected participants. Socio-demographical, clinical, biochemical and anthropometric records were collected. RESULTS: 60.45% of the patients lived in the Brazilian Southeast. 13.53% came from Northeast region, while 12.81% from South, 10.33% from Midwest and 2.86% from North regions. Approximately 58% were male and 63.1% were below 60 years old. 58.5% of patients were married or in cohabitation. Around 80% of them depended on the government Unified Health System. Smoking showed a difference between gender and age. Presumptive etiologies were Hypertensive Nephrosclerosis (26.4%), Diabetic Nephropathy (24.6%), unknown/undiagnosed causes (19.9%), Glomerulopathies (13.6%) and others (11.2%). Both Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus affect approximately 30% of patients, especially over 60 years. Body Mass Index did not differ between genders, although it differed between age groups and when used different evaluation criteria. Men and women average waist circumference were respectively 90.5 and 88.0 cm. Lipid profile did not differ between age groups, but it did between genders. Albumin values were lower in women and in patients older than 60 years. CONCLUSION: This study characterized Brazilian hemodialysis patients in 2010, and may support further studies to monitor nutrition and epidemiological transitions of the population.
nutritional status; censuses; renal dialysis
