Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Versus Peritoneal Dialysis Patients in Bahrain

Chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease, affect patients' quality of life (QOL). Hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) are renal replacement methods in these patients. This work aimed to study the relationship between QOL scores in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on HD and PD.

This study was done at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), Bahrain, from May to July 2023. A standard QOL index score instrument in Arabic form was used on 76 HD and 38 PD patients. The inclusion criteria included dialysis for at least three months and an age of more than 18 years with no severe morbidities or psychological diseases.

The mean age of HD and PD patients was 58.7 ± 11.2 and 55.9 ± 12.1 years, respectively. Thirty-five (46.1%) of the HD patients and 17 (44.7%) of the PD patients were females. In most dimensions, the QOL score of the patients treated with PD was better than that of the HD group. The number of hospital admissions was statistically significantly higher in the HD group (p = 0.007); however, there was no significant difference in the causes of admissions (p = 0.131). In this study, we observed the highest QOL score in the family subscale (93.2 ± 9.2 and 98.6 ± 4.7), followed by the psychological/spiritual subscale (81.1 ± 16.7 and 97.6 ± 3.9) in the HD and PD groups, respectively), but it was statistically significantly higher in the PD group (p < 0.001).

Our findings show that patients starting PD had better QOL scores in all domains than patients starting HD. Moreover, patients on PD maintained more active social support and ultimately felt better emotional well-being and physical health than those undergoing HD.