Health-related quality of life in elderly chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis

Abstract

Objective: evaluating the quality of life of elderly chronic kidney disease patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment. Methods: It was a descriptive and transversal study performed with 58 patients in a hemodialysis center. The World Health Organization Quality of Life - bref (Whoqol-bref) questionnaire was used to measure the quality of life of the participants of the study. Data were analyzed descriptively, using SPSS version 21. Results: the majority of the participants were male (62%); aged between 60 and 75 years (84%); married (58%); retired or receiving illness aid (80%); Catholic (86%). Most patients had at least four years of formal education (80%); received between one and two Brazilian minimum wage (77%); classified their health as “fragile” or “very fragile” (58%); had been on hemodialysis for more than a year (80%), and its prevalence was 60% between one and six years. The arteriovenous fistula was present in 88% of the patients. High blood pressure was the main primary cause of the chronic kidney disease in 48.64% of the patients. Regarding the quality of life of the elderly patients measured by the Whoqol-bref questionnaire, the Physical was the most affected domain with an average of 43.94. It was found a significant statistical difference between quality of life of the elderly chronic kidney disease patients and years of formal education in the following domains: Social Relationships (p=0.001), Environment (p=0.029) and General Quality of Life (p=0.013). A significant statistical difference was also reported between quality of life of elderly chronic kidney disease patients and family income in the Environment (p=0.006) and General Quality of Life domains (p=0.031). Conclusions: studies on quality of life offer strategies to health workers that allow them to measure physical, psychological, social and environmental necessities in a way to meet the real needs of elderly patients undergoing renal therapy.