The impact of residual renal function on quality of life in patients with peritoneal dialysis .

BACKGROUND: Residual renal function (RRF) is a crucial factor that plays an important role in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, but whether RRF influences the quality of life (QOL) of PD patients is still controversial. The aims of this study were to explore the effects of RRF on QOL in patients with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and analyze the related factors that might affect patients' QOL.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: All 120 adult patients in this study received regular CAPD treatment for at least 3 months. Patients were divided into two groups: an RRF group (residual glomerular filtration (rGFR) ≥ 1 mL×min-1×(1.73m2)-1) and a non-RRF group (rGFR ≥ 1 mL×min-1×(1.73m2)-1). The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used as a reference to calculate the scores of CAPD patients for assessing their QOL. Multiple- and single-linear regression analysis was performed to analyze correlation degree of several SF-36-related indexes.

RESULTS: The indexes of age, gender, cause of disease, complication, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), hemoglobin (HB), cholesterol, triglycerides, high- and low-density lipoprotein, normalized protein catabolic rate (nPCR), and cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) showed no difference between the two groups (RRF and non-RRF). Comparing with RRF group, the patients without RRF showed a significant difference on indexes of PD duration, urine volume, ultrafiltration volume, dialysis dose, serum albumin, potassium, Kt/V (urea reduction ratio), creatinine, calcium, phosphate, C-reactive protein (CRP), and parathyroid hormone (PTH). Single-linear regression analysis that achieved total score of SF-36 showed no correlation with rGFR, but there was a correlation of SF-36 score with CRP, creatinine, CTR, albumin, and ultrafiltration volume.

CONCLUSION: These results suggested that there was no correlation between RRF and QOL in CAPD patients, but chronic inflammation, fluid overload, and malnutrition were considered as the main factors that affect patients' QOL.
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