[Quality of life in hemodialysis patients in Dakar: differences for the tropics?].
In recent years, measuring quality of life (QoL) to quantify the impact of disease on patients' lives has become widespread. We conducted a study to evaluate the QoL of hemodialysis patients in Dakar and to identify factors that influence it.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study took place from May through July 2008 in two hemodialysis centers in the city of Dakar. It included all patients who had been undergoing dialysis for more than 3 months, were in stable clinical condition with no hospitalization in the previous month and consented to participate. QoL was assessed with the Kidney Disease Quality Of Life Short-Form version 1.2 (KDQoL-SF), which comprises 43 items specific to kidney disease as well as the 36 items of the SF-36.


RESULTS
Our study included 60 patients. Their mean age was 50.5 years, and the male/female sex ratio was 0.9. The global mean score (for the SF-36 was 45.7 ± 25.5, 41 ± 24.4 for the physical dimension and 53.6 ± 27.3 for the mental health dimension. The mean global KDQoL score was 55.2 ± 24.0, 44.8 ± 26.1 for the physical dimension, and 54.8 ± 24.4 for the mental health dimension, 60.8 ± 21.3 for the specific dimension of dialysis and 78.4 ± 22.3 for patient satisfaction. The study shows that the QoL of 90% of our patients was impaired by their kidney disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Studies that focus on QoL of dialysis patients are rare in Africa. This one showed an impaired QoL, especially for physical health, among our hemodialysis patients.
Département de Néphrologie, CHU Aristide-Le Dantec, Dakar, Sénégal. mhmcisse02@hotmail.com
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D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012675:Senegal