A Study of Quality of Life and its Determinants among Hemodialysis Patients Using the KDQOL-SF Instrument in One Center in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: We aimed to assess quality of life (QOL) among Saudi hemodialysis (HD) patients and the impact on the QOL of a certain demographic and clinical factors. Methods: The QOL was assessed using an Arabic version of Kidney Disease Quality of Life Instrument Short Form (KDQOL-SF). Mean scores were compared for individual domain scores and for the three composite summary scores, namely the mental component score (MCS), the physical component score (PCS) and kidney-disease component score (KDCS). Results: The study included one hundred chronic HD patients from King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh. The overall mean score was 60.4. Domains with very low scores were "cognitive function", "role-emotional", "role-physical" and "work status". Domains with high scores were "patient satisfaction", "dialysis staff encouragement" and "quality of social interaction". The mean scores for KDCS, MCS and PCS were 59.7, 54.2 and 52.7 respectively. KDC scores were higher among males and the married group. PCS scores were higher among males, patients aged < 40 years, and the higher income group. MCS scores were higher among males and the higher income groups. There was a positive correlation between KDCS and MCS (r = 0.62, P = 0.0001); and between KDCS and PCS (r = 0.65, P = 0.0001). Conclusion: We provided a detailed description of the QOL scores of a group of Saudi HD patients and the impact of certain factors on their QOL. Low scores were seen in the "work status", "cognitive function", "role-physical" and "role-emotional" while high scores were seen in "patient satisfaction", "dialysis staff encouragement" and "quality of social interaction" domains.