Quality of life and hemoglobin levels of hemodialysis patient at Siriraj Hospital.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship of the quality of life (QOL), and hemoglobin (Hb) level of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. Face-to-face interviews using a Kidney Disease Quality of Life - Short Form (KDQOL-SF™1.3) questionnaire (which consisted of SF-36 and kidney disease questionnaires) were conducted during November-December 2009 with 152 patients receiving hemodialysis at Siriraj hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. QOL measures were compared in stepwise Hb levels of 9, >9 to 10, >10 to 11, >11 to 12, and >12 g/dl. Scores of QOL and Hb level were examined for the relationship and statistical significance using ANOVA. Results: The increasing Hb levels are statistically significant increases in kidney disease domain scores on the kidney disease component of the questionnaire (p=0.042). About the SF36 component, the difference between 5 groups of Hb levels were significant in the general health (p=0.023), role emotion (p=0.015), social functioning (p=0.008), and mental component summary scores (p=0.039). Conclusion: The difference of the Hb levels were statistically significant differences in the effects of kidney disease, general health, role emotion, and social function scores, and mental component summary scores of the KDQOL-SF questionnaire. However, a long-term assessment should be considered. These findings have implications for the care of hemodialysis patients in terms of the initiation of the Hb target of erythropoietin (EPO) therapy.

Psychometric properties of WHOQOL-BREF-THAI in patients with HIV/AIDS.

OBJECTIVE: To assess reliability and validity of the Thai abbreviated version of World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF-THAI) in HIV/AIDS patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The present study is descriptive research. Data were purposefully collected from 120 HIV/AIDS outpatients at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute, Thailand, during September-December 2004. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.61 to 0.81 across domains. Exploratory factor analysis identified four major domains: physical, psychological, social and environmental domains, corresponding to the four WHOQOL-BREF domains. The four domain scores correlated positively with general health satisfaction and overall quality of life questions (all p < 0.01 except general health & social domain p < 0.05), and correlated negatively with the frequency and severity of HIV symptoms (all p < 0.01). The four domain scores discriminated between patients with higher and lower frequency and severity of HIV symptoms (all p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The present study shows that WHOQOL-BREF THAI can be a good generic health-related quality of life instrument in HIV/AIDS patients.

Factors affecting decision making of low-income young women with unplanned pregnancies in Bangkok, Thailand.

Unplanned pregnancy is one of the most difficult life experiences for young women. Women are often confused and seek help and support. When the problem occurs, a woman has three choices: parenting the baby, planning for adoption, or terminating the pregnancy. Choosing one of these three options is often difficult. This study aimed to identify the factors (variables) influencing women's decision making when choosing the options available to them. The study was conducted in five shelters and low-income communities in the Bangkok area. Data were collected for five months, November 2003 to March 2004. Young women, age 13-24, who experienced an unplanned pregnancy at least once, or currently experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, were recruited into the study. One hundred and twenty volunteer cases were recruited. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the factors that affecting the choices of young women with unplanned pregnancies. There were 6 potential influencing variables, in three broad categories of factors that influenced their choices. In this study, the influencing factors from the personal history variables were, age of the most recent unplanned pregnancy. The individual psychosocial variables were: attitude towards unplanned pregnancy, attitude towards contraception, and making a decision without consultation. The relationship variables were: relationship with partner, and consulting partner when having a problem. The results from discriminant analysis yielded 68.3% predictive accuracy. This result was satisfactory compared with a 33% chance of accuracy (classified as chance alone would yield a 33% accuracy). Knowing the influencing factors for the choices of young women with unplanned pregnancies allows us to understand the women's decisions and their utilization of services with some degree of confidence. The program managers or implementers should do as much as possible to support the decision making process in these young women in order to provide better information and services to reduce the impact, both physical and mental, of the selected choice.