title: Impact of demographic and comorbid conditions on quality of life of hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: To assess the quality of life (QOL) of Saudi Arabian patients undergoing hemo-dialysis (HD) and to determine the impact of gender, age, education and comorbidities on the QOL of these patients, we conducted a cross-sectional study and used the short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire, a generic instrument for measuring QOL. This questionnaire is composed of eight scales that summarize the physical component scale (PCS) and mental component scale (MCS) of health status. We calculated the PCS and MCS scores for each patient. We studied 205 HD patients (123 men; ages 18-75 years) from the King Fahd General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The mean SF-36 score was 59.4 ± 21.7 in men and 41.9 ± 20.9 in women (P <0.0001). Patients older than 60 years had the worst score (41.5 ± 21.2), followed by patients aged 40-59 years (53.6 ± 22.8); patients aged 18-39 years had the best SF-36 score (57.5 ± 22.5; P <0.0001). Education had a positive impact on QOL (P <0.0001), whereas comorbid conditions had a negative impact. Peripheral vascular disease was associated with the worst outcome (SF-36 score, 40.4 ± 23.0; P <0.0001), followed by dyslipidemia (42.9 ± 22.4; P = 0.001) and diabetes mellitus (45.0 ± 22.0; P = 0.012). Among the comorbid conditions, hypertension was associated with the best SF-36 score (50.6 ± 22.7; P = 0.034). We conclude that old age, female gender, poor education and comorbid conditions have a negative impact on the QOL of HD patients in Saudi Arabia. These findings indicate a general need for social support for female patients on HD and early diagnosis and management of comorbid conditions.
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Qusay Mohammed
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Mandoorah
authors.forename: Faisal Abdulraheem
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Shaheen
authors.forename: Sohaib Mohammed
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mandoorah
authors.forename: Salem Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bawazir
authors.forename: Saad Saleh
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Alshohaib
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult