Quality of life trajectories for different dialysis modalities-a nationwide study

Few contemporary studies have investigated the changes in quality of life across dialysis modalities. Our aim was to compare longitudinal changes in health-related physical and mental quality of life between patients on institutional hemodialysis (IHD), peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home hemodialysis (HHD).

Patients on dialysis with registered Research and Development 36 (RAND-36) questionnaires between 2017-2021 in the Swedish Renal Registry (SRR) were eligible for inclusion. Information on dialysis, patient characteristics and medication were collected from SRR and other registries. Patients were followed up to 39 months. Changes in physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component summary scores were analyzed in adjusted linear mixed models and joint models.

We included 930 patients (IHD 714, PD 128, HHD 88) with a median follow-up of 1.8 years (interquartile range 1.0-2.1). At baseline, the mean unadjusted PCS was lower in IHD (30.7; 95% CI 29.9, 31.4) compared with HHD (35.3; 95% CI 33.0, 37.5) and PD (33.2; 95% CI 31.3, 35.1). PCS declined over time in all modalities, but faster for PD compared with IHD (-1.2; 95% CI -2.1, -0.3 per year) and HHD (-1.5, 95% CI -2.9, -0.04). MCS was similar at baseline. HHD had improving MCS trajectory compared to IHD (-1.5, 95% CI -2.8, 0.2) and PD (-2.3, 95% CI -3.9, 0.7), largely resulting from improvement in role limitations caused by mental health (6.2, 95% CI 0.9, 11.5).

Insights about the variation in quality-of-life trajectories for different dialysis modalities are important for patients to make informed choices.