A Cross-Sectional Study Regarding The Impact Of End-Stage Renal Disease On Quality Of Life

The number and severity of physical and psychological symptoms reported by chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients are significant and increasing; with a clear need to clarify which symptom intervention is the most needed. Measurements of quality of life (QoL) have shown, for many decades, an impairment of both physical and psychological aspects in both chronic kidney disease (CKD) pre- dialysis and in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted assess the quality of life of a Romanian hemodialysis population and the impact of several clinical and biochemical factors. Material and methods: A total of 102 patients (41 males, 61 females) with a mean age of 52.5 +/- 12.0 years, who were treated with HD three times per week in our dialysis center were included in the study. All subjects completed the Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36). Clinical and biochemical parameters were extracted from the EUCLID (R) electronic database. Results: Our measurement showed a deteriorated QoL in our population, all of the included subjects presenting with much lower scores in both physical and mental components than the reference values of SF-36. We did not found any statistic significant correlation between hemoglobin (Hgb) levels or dialysis adequacy and different domains of the SF-36. The only significant association was found between age and the physical component of the SF-36, implying that older patients perceive a more degraded quality of life. Conclusion: HD patients experience a great burden from physical and psychological symptoms of the disease, perceiving an important impairment in their quality of life, especially regarding the physical component.