Assessment of Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease on Maintenance Haemodialysis with Regard to Anaemia - A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study at a Tertiary Hospital in Kuppam

BACKGROUND Anaemia is common among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Quality of life (QOL) is a broad multidimensional concept and many factors affect QOL in CKD patients. This study attempted to measure QOL with varying levels of haemoglobin in CKD patients. METHODS The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional study done on CKD patients on maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) after ethical committee approval. All patients aged more than 18 years on MHD for at least 3 months were enrolled in the study. Patients were categorised into 4 separate groups as Hb 4 to < 6 g/dl, 6 to < 8 g/dl, 8 to < 10 g/dl and 10 - 12 g/dl. After obtaining informed consent, participants were given the study questionnaire - kidney disease quality of life (KDQOL) short form (SF - 36) TM V1 .2. RESULTS At different Hb levels, there were significant differences in the kidney symptom/ problem scores (P = 0.000),the burden of kidney disease scores (P = 0.000), the work satisfaction scores (P = 0.014) and the cognitive function scores (P = 0.000). About SF - 36, all of the physical domains were significantly different: physical function scores (P = 0.000), role physical scores (P = 0.045), pain scores (P = 0.000) and general health component scores (P = 0.004) at different Hb levels. For mental domain components, the differences between four groups of Hb levels were significant in the variety of quality of life domains: emotional wellbeing score (P = 0.006), role emotion scores (0.000), social function scores (P = 0.000) and energy/fatigue scores (0.026). CONCLUSIONS KDQOL, SF - 36 showed that the QOL scores are strongly related to Hb concentrations. The higher scores in various quality of life domains were mostly associated with higher Hb levels in the KDQOL - SF scores. Efforts to optimize haemoglobin in CKD patients may show QOL improvement. KEYWORDS Chronic Kidney Disease, Haemodialysis, Anaemia, Quality of Life