Psychosocial Factors and Health-Related Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Patients

Several sociodemographic and clinical variables are known to influence the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with kidney disease, yet the relationship between psychological factors and the HRQOL measured by the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short-Form (KDQOL-SF) is incompletely understood. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between psychosocial status (depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and social support) and KDQOL-SF scales in hemodialysis (HD) patients by controlling the effects of sociodemographic and clinical variables. The HRQOL of 194 patients from 43 dialysis centers in Spain was assessed by completing the KDQOL-SF, and evaluating depressive symptoms (Cognitive Depression Index), trait anxiety (Trait Anxiety Inventory) and degree of social support (Scale of Perceived Social Support). We also recorded several sociodemographic and clinical variables. Two regression models were estimated for each of the 19 scales in the KDQOL-SF. In the first model, we only included sociodemographic and clinical-factors, while the second model also took into consideration psychosocial variables. These last factors (trait anxiety and depressive symptoms, not social support) were found to increase the proportion of explained variability, with highest standardized regression coefficients observed for most KDQOL-SF scales. Depressive symptoms were related to a poor HRQOL when there was a strong physical component, while trait anxiety was mainly related to emotional upset and social relationships. We were able to conclude that trait anxiety and depressive symptoms are strongly associated with the HRQOL assessed by the KDQOL-SF in HD patients. The effects of these factors should therefore be considered when evaluating the quality of life of this type of patient.