Health-related quality of life of dialysis patients during early COVID-19 lockdowns: a snapshot from a public hospital in Malaysia

Ganesh Sritheran Paneerselvam; Khang Wen Goh; Yaman Walid Kassab; Muhammad Junaid Farrukh; Bey Hing Goh; Pei Lin Lua; Andi Hermansyah; Long Chiau Ming

doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.992870

Health-related quality of life of dialysis patients during early COVID-19 lockdowns: a snapshot from a public hospital in Malaysia

Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 May 25:10:992870. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.992870. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ganesh Sritheran Paneerselvam¹, Khang Wen Goh², Yaman Walid Kassab³, Muhammad Junaid Farrukh⁴, Bey Hing Goh^{5

6}, Pei Lin Lua⁷, Andi Hermansyah⁸, Long Chiau Ming^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmacy, Taylor's University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Faculty of Data Science and Information Technology, INTI International University, Nilai, Malaysia.
³ Faculty of Pharmacy, Syrian Private University, Damascus, Syria.
⁴ Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁵ Biofunctional Molecule Exploratory Research Group, School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Sunway City, Malaysia.
⁶ College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁷ Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia.
⁸ Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
⁹ Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei.
¹⁰ School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Sunway City, Malaysia.

Abstract

Background: End-stage renal disease is the last stage of chronic kidney disease and can affect the quality of life (QOL) of dialysis patients. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life and examine its determinants.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving patients on dialysis in a tertiary hospital was conducted from July 2020 to September 2020. Demographic data were collected using a predesigned questionnaire. QOL was measured using the 36-item KDQOL questionnaire, and statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 25.

Results: Of the 108 patients, 59 were men and 49 were women, and the mean age was 48.15 ± 15.4 years. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the mean score of all components of health-related quality of life in different types of dialysis. The demographic data, which included age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education level, occupation, and monthly income, did not significantly affect the QOL of dialysis patients. Patients with a dialysis duration of more than 5 years had a better QOL compared to other groups. Laboratory parameters such as low albumin and low hemoglobin showed a significant correlation with the health-related quality of life of dialysis patients.

Conclusion: The quality of life among patients on dialysis was impaired, especially in terms of burden of the kidney disease. Hypoalbuminemia and anemia were the two factors that influenced QOL.

Keywords: KDQOL-36; hemodialysis; kidney disease; peritoneal dialysis; quality of life.