Assessment of the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease: a prospective observational crosssectional cohort study

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as changes in glomerular filtration rate and/or the presence of parenchymal damage, which are maintained for at least three months. When in advanced stages of evolution, renal replacement therapies are necessary, and the most widespread is hemodialysis, indispensable for the stability of the patient. However, such a therapeutic measure has a great influence on the patient's quality of life, interfering with their habits, as well as their physical conditions and social and occupational functioning. Thus, when evaluating the quality of care provided to 204 participants with CKD attending the nephrology and hemodialysis clinic, aimed at recognizing the quality of life, through the validated WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, a causal relationship between the data obtained from each domain addressed in the questionnaire (physical, environmental, psychological and social relationships) and their quality of life profile. Those younger, males, with higher socioeconomic and educational levels, showed a significant increase in their quality of life. In addition, among the analyzed domains, the physical one, which deals with conditions such as pain, sleep quality, and physical and psychological capacity to perform functions showed to have the greatest impact, unfavorably. The opposite was observed in the environmental domain, which stood out positively among the others, allowing us to conclude that even though the participants had ideal conditions to carry out the procedure, the effects generated by this in the body, contribute to the reduction of significantly on the quality of life.