title: Understanding and assessing the impact of end-stage renal disease on quality of life: a systematic review of the content validity of self-administered instruments used to assess health-related quality of life in end-stage renal disease.
abstract: Advances in healthcare, combined with an increasing number of adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), mean that there is a growing number of people now surviving on renal replacement therapy. The issue of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) is becoming increasingly important in this area. For this reason, the content validity of various instruments used to measure HR-QOL in an ESRD population were explored. Systematic searches of MEDLINE (1950-2009) were conducted using terms related to ESRD combined with terms associated with measuring HR-QOL. A total of 378 abstracts were identified, detailing the repeated use of six generic measures and four disease-specific measures. The generic HR-QOL measures discussed include the Medical Outcomes 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), the EuroQOL 5 Dimension (EQ-5D), and the WHO QOL assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). The most frequently used disease-specific measure discussed is the Kidney Disease QOL instrument (KDQOL) and its derivative versions (KDQOL-SF, KDQOL-36). The appropriateness of using the SF-36 in this population is challenged and recommendations include using the WHOQOL-BREF in cases when a generic instrument is required and the KDQOL-SF when a more disease-specific measurement is called for.
authors.affiliation: University of the West of Scotland, Ayr, Scotland.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Glover
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Banks
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.forename: Colin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duffy
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires