Introduction. Quality of life (QoL) is an important predictor of outcome in End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients. Therefore, QoL needs to be regularly assessed in this setting. Our study describes QoL, as well as demographic and clinical variables associated with QoL in chronic Iranian haemodialysis (HD) patients.
Methods. Prevalent chronic HD patients (N = 970; mean age, 45.7 ± 12.6 years) in one dialysis centre from the twenty main regions of Iran were included in the study. All of them completed the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire Short Form (KDQOL-SF).
Results. Mean physical component summary (PCS) score was 64.3 ± 19.2 and the mean mental component summary (MCS) score was 45.1 ± 19.3.These figures were lower than those previously assessed in non-dialysis age-matched Iranian individuals. The mean kidney disease summary component (KDSC) score was 72.3 ± 11.3, similar to other studies. The worst dimension of QoL was work, whereas the best ones were cognitive function and quality of social interaction. We found older age, female gender, lower socio-economic status, and higher level to be associated with lower QoL scores.
Conclusion. The QoL of HD patients in Iran is lower than that in the general population. Our results suggest that at least one-third of these patients may be considered for rehabilitation therapy, in order to try and prevent complications and mortality.