Hemodiálisis crónica: programa de evaluación de calidad de vida en pacientes mayores de 60 años / Chronic hemodialysis: evaluation programme of life quality in patients over 60 years old

ABSTRACT

The aim of this work was to assess the quality of life of 87 patients older than 60 years, out of 200 undergoing chronic hemodialysis in 9 centers at Santiago. A visual analog scale, with scores ranging from 0 (bad) to 100 (optimal) and a specific questionnaire about the impact of hemodialysis in daily activities, with scores ranging from 1 -10 (severe limitation) to +10 (no limitation) were applied to patients and their attending nurses. Using the visual analog scale, patients assesed their quality of life in 51.7 per cent and health personnel in 61.3 per cent . Patients had a questionnaire score of 2.3. Quality of life scores were inversely correlated with the condition of being diabetic and the number of hospital admissions