BackgroundHaemodialysis in Malawi consumes a disproportionate amount of the national health budget, costing approximately $20,000 per patient per year. Adjunctive therapeutic agents for end stage kidney disease and laboratory services to measure standard dialysis outcomes are not routinely available. Therefore, alternative outcome measures of the efficacy of haemodialysis in Malawi are required. We measured health related quality of life of adult patients in Malawi treated with haemodialysis for end stage kidney disease.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of patients receiving haemodialysis for end stage kidney disease at 4 dialysis centres in Malawi between 24/10/2012 and 30/11/012. Patients were included if they were >18 years of age and had been receiving haemodialysis for >3 months. We used the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Instrument Short Form to assess health related quality of life.ResultsWe recruited 22 of 24 eligible patients (mean age 44.8 ± 16.0 years, 59.1 % male, median duration on haemodialysis 12 months (Inter-quartile range 6–24 months)). Overall health related quality of life was low (mean score 59.9 ± 8.8, maximum possible score 100) with the lowest scores recorded for physical health component summary score (50.4 ± 22.8) compared to mental health component summary (61.3 ± 23.0) and kidney disease component summary (67.9 ± 13.2). Low household income (<$4000 per year) was associated with lower mental health component scores (adjusted r2 = 0.413, p = 0.033).ConclusionsQuality of life of haemodialysis patients in Malawi can be easily measured using a validated questionnaire and provides an alternative and important measure of the efficacy of haemodialysis therapy. Physical health scores were particularly low and this may affect income generating capacity. Increased efforts are required to improve the quality of life of haemodialysis patients in Malawi with a particular focus on the burden of physical symptoms.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12882-016-0292-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
In low-income countries there are few data on hospital malnutrition. Reduced food intake combined with nutrient-poor foods served in hospitals contribute to nutritional risk. This study investigated whether reported dietary intake and disease state of hospitalized adults in critical care units was related to malnutrition determined by mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). Adult in-patients (n = 126) in tuberculosis, burn, oncology, and intensive care units in two public tertiary hospitals in Malawi were screened for nutritional status using MUAC and a question on current dietary intake. The hospital menu was reviewed; portion sizes were weighed. The prevalence of moderate and severe malnutrition was 62%. Patients with organ-related diseases and infectious diseases had the highest rates of reduced reported dietary intake, 71.4% and 57.9%, respectively; however, there was no association between reported dietary intake and MUAC. In those unable to eat, however, the rate of severe malnutrition was 50%. The menu consisted of porridge and thickened corn-based starch with fried cabbage; protein foods were provided twice weekly. There was a nutrient gap of 250 calories and 13 gm protein daily. The findings support the need for increasing dietetic/nutrition services to prevent and treat malnutrition in hospitals using simple screening tools.
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