The Impact of Socioeconomic Status and Nutritional Biochemical Markers on Quality of Life of Chronic Dialysis Patients?

Abstract

Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between socio-economic status and laboratory values with mental and physical components of QoL (quality of life) in chronic dialysis patients.

Material and methods: 254 patients were included in the study and divided into two groups: 243 hemodialysis (HD) patients and 11 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. QoL was measured by the Short Form 36(SF-36). Scores for all dimensions are expressed on a 0-100 scale. Higher score indicates better health status. Two more questions related to monthly food expenditure and the presence/or lack of family support were added. Laboratory investigations included the following nutritional parameters: serum albumin and creatinine.

Results: Our study results showed that compared to PD group in HD patients QoL was compromised in all SF-36 subscale except physical functioning, role limitations due to physical functioning and role limitations due to emotional functioning. Also, the presence of supportive family members/ caregivers showed a significant improvement of all QoL scores. HD patients who spend at least 90 euros monthly on groceries/food had higher values of SF-36 items. Better QoL is associated with high pre-dialysis serum creatinine and serum albumin levels.

Conclusions: Future work should incorporate larger and more balanced sample sizes and patient recruitment from multiple dialysis centers to truly capture the variability in patient characteristics.