Background

Patients on dialysis require adequate nutrition in order to prevent Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM). Failure to diagnose malnutrition leads to neglect of nutritional support during illness. Active nutritional support has been shown to improve outcomes and reduce cost of treatment in severely malnourished patients. Nutritional status is frequently ignored in many dialysis centres while simple methods of nutritional assessment could have a favourable impact on patient management.

Various studies have shown that renal protection treatment strategy in Patients with renal disease include dietary management for protein and salt,weight control and life style modification. Institution of lifestyle measures (diet and exercise) along with medical treatment can prove cost effective in the long run by preventing progression to End Stage Renal Disease.

In the current project, all the dialysis patients will be included in the study. At Command Hospital Pune around 60 patients are registered at any point of time for dialysis. The patients are given dietary advice by the nephrologists. However, there are no written guidelines regarding diet and exercises available in the OPD. There is no standard module being used for this. No hand outs are being given to patients regarding diet and lifestyle modification. Hence, the present study has been proposed to study the effect of dietary and lifestyle intervention on quality of life  of patients.