The incidence of pain and its association with quality of life in patients with peritoneal dialysis

Background The aims of this study were to investigate the incidence of pain in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and to analyze the correlation between pain and quality of life. Methods PD patients who followed up in our PD center from March 2016 to December 2017 were included. The Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire was used to assess pain status. Depression status, sleep quality, quality of life and clinical data were also collected. Results A total of 463 PD patients were included, of whom 153 patients (33.1%) with pain. The main cause of pain was calcium and phosphorus metabolism disorder (51.6%). About 101 patients (66.0%) had multiple sites of pain, and 28 patients (18.3%) with pain were treated with analgesic drugs. Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that older age (OR = 1.026; p = 0.032) and higher intact parathyroid hormone level (OR = 1.043; p = 0.040) were independent risk factors for pain in PD patients. Multivariate analysis showed that score of pain rating index was an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms (OR = 1.100; p = 0.015), the score of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (B = 0.005; p = 0.044) and the score of physical component scale (B= -0.727; p = 0.016) in PD patients. Conclusions The incidence of pain in PD patients was 33.1%. Older age and higher intact parathyroid hormone level were independent risk factors for pain. Pain was independently associated with depressive symptoms, sleep quality and quality of life in PD patients.