Effect of structured pre-dialysis education on the clinical outcomes of kidney patients

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of pre-dialysis education on clinical, laboratory, quality of life, and self-care ability of patients on dialysis treatment.

This observational study recruited 202 patients (108 patients who received systematic pre-dialysis education; education group- and 94 patients who started dialysis without education; noneducation group). We evaluated and compared quality of life, self-care ability, psychological/depressive status, and biochemical parameters between groups.

The education group had a significantly higher self-care score (98.3 ± 8.5) (82.4 ± 21.5, p < 0.001), lower depressive symptoms (2.8%, 0.9%, and 0.9%, respectively) compared with the non-education group (31.9%, 20.2%, and 2.8%, respectively, p < 0.001). Quality of life scale results were significantly higher in the education group (p < 0.001 for each). Phosphate, parathormone, BUN, and residual renal function level were significantly lower (p < 0.01), and haemoglobin was significantly higher (p < 0.01) compared to those in the non-education group.

Our study shows that systematic education practices in the pre-dialysis period were associated with improved quality of life, increased self-care ability, increased psychosocial well-being, and positive effects on clinical outcomes in dialysis patients.