Quality of life in patients on peritoneal dialysis: clinical and psychological changes with age and duration of treatment

For nephrologists, the theme of the quality of life (QoL) of patients on dialysis, in relation to physical and psychological parameters, is of great interest. We examine the importance of psychological variable-related factors of age and duration of treatment. We studied the quality of life of 56 subjects on peritoneal dialysis prospectively at time 0 and time 1 (after six months). Patients were divided into four age groups and some clinical parameters were registered. We used three specific tests for psychological assessment. Our study suggests that peritoneal dialysis patients have a significantly worse quality of life, especially according to physical parameters, and this also considerably affects social activities.