Abstract

This study was performed to estimate the effect of alphacalcidol supplementation or nutrition education on the nutrient intakes, bone mineral density and bone markers in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. The 90 CAPD subjects were randomly assigned to 3 groups (alphacalcidol group: AG, nutrition education group: NG, and control group: CG). Alphacalcidol supplementation(0.5 microgram/day) was carried out for 8 months. Nutrition counseling was performed according to the patient's individual question for the first 6 months and scheduled nutrition education with individual counseling was carried out for the last 2 months. In baseline data, there were no significant differences in age, sex, family number, education years and monthly income except the NG showed significantly less duration of CAPD (p <0.05) compared to other two groups. After intervention all three groups showed tendency of lower intakes. NG revealed less decrease in protein, especially in animal protein, calcium from Ca-P binder, dietary calcium, dietary iron and niacin. NG showed significantly more increase in dry weight (p <0.05) and AG in waist circumference (p <0.001) after intervention. The groups did not show significant differences in the changes of biochemical indices related to bone metabolism. NG revealed more increase in trochanter BMD (p <0.05) compared to other two groups. It seems that nutrition education is more effective in preventing deterioration or improving the bone and general nutrition status.

• Keywords: CAPD; nutritional status; bone mineral density; alphacalcidol; nutritional education