Functional status and personality in patients on chronic dialysis

This study describes the functional status of 53 dialysis patients; The Sickness Impact Profile test (SIP), the Karnofsky Activity Scale and Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) are used. Our results showed that the dialysis patients had a higher (P less than 0.001) total SIP score when compared to normal controls. Thus, the patients had a worse functional status than the controls. The results of the Karnofsky Activity Scale, estimated by a nurse, were in accordance with the results of the SIP score. The KSP-test showed that both men and women had significantly lower scores in the aggression scale than a control group. We conclude that the dialysis situation has a major influence on the quality of life of dialysis patients. Great attention should be paid to the development of supporting programmes for this patient group.