title: [Prevalence of pre-obesity and obesity in uremic hemodialysis patients from Puglia and Lucania].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is a well-known cause of increased morbidity and mortality in the general population, while its influence on the hemodialysis population is yet to be defined. Obesity probably has a protective effect on survival in hemodialysis. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of obesity in the hemodialysis population of Puglia and Lucania, two regions of Southern Italy, by using simple and easily accessible parameters collected by the participating centres.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand five hundred and forty-six patients on stable hemodialysis for at least 6 months from 23 Centres were studied. One hundred and sixty patients had a body mass index (BMI) more than 25 kg/m2; "preobesity" was defined as a BMI ranging between 25 and 30 kg/mq, while "obesity" as a BMI > 30. All data regarding the underlying renal disease, the use of low-protein diet before beginning hemodialysis, weight and height at the beginning of treatment and the different kinds of treatment were collected. A careful analysis of the last dialysis treatment by means of biochemical data was carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of preobesity and obesity was 3.1 and 7.3%, respectively. Eighty-three percent of patients in the preobesity group and seventy-two percent in the obesity group were female (p<0.001). The prevalence of diabetes was 19 and 24% in the preobesity and obesity groups, respectively, while it was 8% in patient with normal BMI (p<0.0001). Age and duration of low-protein diet were similar to those observed in the general population, while dialytic age was greater in preobesity group (p<0.01). Conclusions. Our study has shown that the prevalence of obese people undergoing hemodialysis is increasing. It is therefore necessary to introduce new measures to obtain a good nutritional status in end stage renal disease patients; in particular fat free mass is to be increased, since an improvement in the patient's nutritional status acts as a protecting factor against morbidity and mortality.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D018753:Diet, Protein-Restricted; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014511:Uremia / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*
vernacular_title: Prevalenza dei preobesi e degli obesi negli uremici in trattamento emodialitico in Puglia e Lucania.