Introduction:

People undergoing renal replacement therapy for hemodialysis frequently suffer a certain degree of caloric-protein malnutrition due to dietary restrictions and poor food choices. Malnutrition together with inflammation affects quality of life and increases mortality.

Objectives:

To determine the nutritional status of patients on hemodialysis and the relationship with who cooks the food. To establish the relationship between the degree of compliance with the therapeutic recommendations and the nutritional status.

Material and Method:

Cross-sectional and descriptive study in a population of patients on hospital hemodialysis. Sociodemographic data, clinical history, analytical and anthropometric results were collected. Nutritional status was assessed using the MIS scale. A descriptive and inferential analysis of the variables under study was carried out.

Results:

The degree of malnutrition was 32.4% (n = 34). No significant difference was found between nutritional status and the main caregiver. Although 76.5% reported following the dietary recommendations, only 44% had adequate serum potassium values and 34.7% met the recommended inter-dialytic weight gain.

Conclusions:

Malnutrition continues to be a frequent problem in hemodialysis units. Measures should be taken to reduce this problem, either with educational actions on nutrition or even evaluating the use of dietary supplements. Nursing must continue to reinforce dietary recommendations so that compliance referred by patients can be objectified and reflected in the analytical results.