A cross sectional study on assessment of health related quality of life among end stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis

BackgroundNumerous advancements are nowadays being developed in the field of medicine to improve the clinical outcomes among chronic kidney disease patients. Though these therapies help the patients to live longer life, still their quality of life remain uncertain.ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to assess the health related quality of life (HRQOL) among end stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 50 patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis in a tertiary level referral hospital in Kerala. Patients who had completed at least three months of maintenance hemodialysis, and aged 18 years and above of either sex were included in the study. The socio demographic details of the patients were collected through patient and bystander interviews and from their hospital case records. HRQOL was evaluated using a standardized scale of Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form questionnaire.ResultsAmong HRQOL, the mean score of kidney disease component summary was higher than Mental Component Summary and Physical Component Summary (60.48 ± 11.81, 41.83 ± 15.78 and 36.49 ± 16.30 respectively). Patients possessed better quality of life in Social support (73.54), Dialysis staff encouragement (67.56) and Quality of social interaction (67.56) and the worst scores in Role-physical (13.57) and Role-emotional (17.72) scales.ConclusionThe study has shown that the quality of life of hemodialysis patients was highly impaired and it clearly defines how the disease state adversely affects the physical and mental status of the patient.