Quality of life in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis in an African setting

To determine the quality of life (QOL) of patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), we studied all the CAPD patients attending their monthly follow-up care clinics at three tertiary hospitals in Johannesburg by administering the World Health Organization QOL-Bref questionnaire. The patients were grouped according to age, duration of peritoneal dialysis and gender. Data were analyzed to determine the significant differences in the QOL scores among the subgroups. There were 114 patients [64 males (56.1%), with a mean age of 42.4 ± 11.3 years) and 38 healthy control subjects (22 males (57.9%), with a mean age of 42.1 ± 12.4 years]. Twenty-one patients (18.4%) had hemoglobin <10 g/dL, while 16 patients (14%) had serum albumin <3 g/dL. The mean QOL scores in the physical, psychological, social relationships and environment domains of the CAPD patients were 55.7 ± 15.0, 56.6 ± 16.4, 55.3 ± 24.7 and 56.3 ± 16.6, respectively. The CAPD patients had significantly lower QOL scores compared with controls, and those aged <30 years had better scores in the physical and psychological domains, gender and hemoglobin concentration. Serum albumin levels did not have a significant impact on the QOL of the CAPD patients.