Abstract
Nursing Study on Quality of Life in Elderly Patients on Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis
Objective: To compare quality of life (QOL) in elderly continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients (pts) with QOL in elderly pts with chronic kidney disease level 5 (CKD-5), seeking to improve the QOL of CAPD pts in an effective way.
Methods: We assigned 56 pts more than 65 years of age to one of two groups: CAPD (n = 35; 18 women, 17 men; more than 3 months on CAPD) and control (n = 21; 12 women, 9 men with CKD-5 undergoing neither hemodialysis nor PD). The KDQOL-SF questionnaire (composed of SF-36 and KDTA, totaling 80 items), version 1.3, was administered to all 56 pts and scored according to the Ron D. Hays Score Criteria.
Results: Primary kidney diseases and major biochemical data were all similar between the two groups. The mental health composite score was significantly higher in the CAPD group than in the control group (42.98 ± 9.97 vs. 36.67 ± 9.88 respectively, p > 0.05). The KDTA scores for cognitive function, dialysis staff encouragement, and pt satisfaction were significantly higher in CAPD group than in the control group (78.48 ± 20.01 vs. 65.40 ± 26.13, 93.93 ± 11.49 vs. 80.95 ± 25.19, and 71.43 ± 25.75 vs. 56.35 ± 20.73 respectively; p < 0.05). According to the SF-36 scores, pain (69.50 ± 26.59 vs. 51.67 ± 15.42), emotional well-being (68.46 ± 21.34 vs. 52.00 ± 18.97), and energy/fatigue (48.00 ± 29.06 vs. 32.62 ± 19.21) were significantly higher in CAPD pts than in the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the physical health composite score was significantly higher in the CAPD group (35.06 ± 7.35) than in the control group (30.21 ± 3.85) in men (p < 0.05), but not in women.
Conclusions: The QOL of elderly pts undergoing CAPD is superior to the QOL in non dialysis pts, especially for mental health. Scores for cognitive function, dialysis staff encouragement, pt satisfaction, pain, emotional well-being, and energy/fatigue are significantly better in CAPD pts, providing a basis for choosing effective, economic, and targeted nursing interventions. Further studies should be done to find the causes and countermeasures in some areas that are not obviously changed in elderly pts on CAPD.