[Chronic hemodialysis: program for evaluating the quality of life of patients over 60 years old]

The aim of this work was to assess the quality of life of 87 patients older than 60 years, out of 200 undergoing chronic hemodialysis in 9 centers at Santiago. A visual analog scale, with scores ranging from 0 (bad) to 100 (optimal) and a specific questionnaire about the impact of hemodialysis in daily activities, with scores ranging from -10 (severe limitation) to +10 (no limitation) were applied to patients and their attending nurses. Using the visual analog scale, patients assessed their quality of life in 51.7%, and health personnel in 61.3%. Patients had a questionnaire score of 2.3. Quality of life scores were inversely correlated with the condition of being diabetic and the number of hospital admissions.