Impact of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) - Based Dietary Adherence Intervention on Interdialytic Weight Gain and Blood Pressure in Hemodialysis Patients

With this study the investigators will test, in a randomised clinical trial (RCT), the efficacy of a behavioral dietary adherence enhancement intervention paired with PDA-based dietary self-monitoring for controlling sodium intake. Seventy hemodialysis patients will be recruited from units in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants will be randomized to a 4-month PDA-based dietary counseling intervention or to a 4-month attention control. Potential participants will be stratified by whether or not they have diabetes. Data on primary and secondary outcomes will be obtained at baseline and four months. Primary dependent variables are:

1. adherence to dietary sodium targets as assessed from 3-day food recalls, 2. average monthly interdialytic weight gain, and 3. average pulse pressure. Secondary dependent variables are: 4. adherence to dietary targets for calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, saturated fats, potassium, and phosphorus, as assessed from 3-day food recalls, (5) serum potassium and phosphorus levels determined on a monthly basis, and (6) nutritional status as determined from serum albumin. Laboratory data, interdialytic weight gain, and blood pressure data will be obtained per dialysis center routine and abstracted from the medical record. Three-day food recalls will be obtained at baseline, 4 and 8 months and analyzed using the Nutrient Data System.