Assessment and clinical aspects of health-related quality of life in dialysis patients and patients with chronic kidney disease

Background/Aims: It is relevant to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in dialysis and chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in order to optimise treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate HRQOL in dialysis and CKD patients, to compare results from patients treated with hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to investigate the prediction of dialysis quality control parameters (blood hemoglobin, plasma albumin, and Kt/V) and tobacco smoking in disease-specific HRQOL. Methods: Seventy-one HD, 59 PD, and 63 CKD patients participated in the study. Dialysis quality control parameters were measured and the patients completed the questionnaire Kidney Disease Quality Of Life. Results: PD patients rated Dialysis Staff Encouragement and Patient Satisfaction better than HD patients (p <= 0.05). Dialysis patients scored significant lower than the general population in all generic HRQOL scales (p <= 0.01), whereas CKD patients scored lower than the general population in 5 of 8 scales (p <= 0.05). The dialysis quality parameters did not predict dialysis patients' disease specific HRQOL, but tobacco consumption was independently associated with low scores on a number of HRQOL scales. Conclusion: Based on the results, it is suggested to include elements of HRQOL as a supplement to standard quality control parameters. It is also suggested routinely to include information of the beneficial effects of physical activity already in the pre-dialysis program, and to focus on smoking as a very important risk factor. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.