Predictors of health-related quality of life perceived by end-stage renal disease patients under online hemodiafiltration

Purpose: Patients’ perception of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a consistent and powerful predictor of the outcome of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients under dialysis. This study aims to identify factors that could affect the HRQOL of ESRD patients under online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF). Methods: We evaluated 322 ESRD patients under OL-HDF (59.63 % males; 64.9 ± 14.3 years old) from five dialysis units in the north of Portugal. Socio-demographic data, comorbidities, hematological data, iron status, dialysis adequacy, nutritional and inflammatory markers were collected from patients records. Patient’s reported HRQOL score was assessed by using the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form (KDQOL-SF). Results: ESRD patients showed a mean (±SD) of 53.17 % (±15.31 %) in SF-36 total score, 50.17 % (±9.51 %) in the SF-36 mental component summary (MCS) and 49.75 % (±9.44 %) in the SF-36 physical component summary (PCS). Red cell distribution width (RDW), feminine gender and diabetes were found as significant predictors of SF-36 total score of HRQOL, which accounts for 12 % of the total explained variance. Patient satisfaction, RDW, body mass index and gender were identified as predictors for the PCS, which accounts for 22 % of total explained variance. Furthermore, patient satisfaction and dry weight were found as predictors for MCS. These predictors accounted for 28 % of the total explained variance. Conclusions: Our results showed that the coexistence of diabetes, gender and erythropoietic disturbances are predictors of HRQOL in patients under OL-HDF and suggest that more attention should be given to woman patients, to the improvement of anemia and to diabetic patients, who are more prone to perceive a worst HRQOL.