Prevalence of post-dialysis fatigue: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to synthesise data on the prevalence of post-dialysis fatigue (PDF) among haemodialysis (HD) patients.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesChina National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Chinese Biological Medical Database, PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched from their inception to 1 April 2022.Eligibility criteriaWe selected patients who must receive HD treatment for at least 3 months. Cross-sectional or cohort studies published in Chinese or English were eligible for inclusion. The main search terms used in the abstract were: "renal dialysis", "hemodialysis" and "post-dialysis", in combination with the word "fatigue".Data extraction and synthesisTwo investigators independently performed data extraction and quality assessment. Data were pooled to estimate the overall prevalence of PDF among HD patients using the random-effects model. Cochran's Q and I-2 statistics were adopted to evaluate heterogeneity.ResultA total of 12 studies were included, with 2152 HD patients, of which 1215 were defined as having PDF. The overall prevalence of PDF in HD patients was 61.0% (95% CI: 53.6% to 68.3%, p<0.001, I-2=90.0%). Subgroup analysis failed to explain the source of heterogeneity, but univariable meta-regression showed that a mean age of & GE;50 years might be the source of heterogeneity. Egger's test revealed no publication bias among the studies (p=0.144).ConclusionsPDF is highly prevalent among HD patients.