Impaired health-related QoL perception is associated with hospitalization in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis

To evaluate the association between quality of life (QoL) malnutrition, level of physical activity, and occurrence of non-elective hospitalization in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

This is a cross-sectional study to assess QoL, presence of malnutrition, and level of physical activity and longitudinal design to monitor the occurrence of non-elective hospitalization among participants. Adult patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who had been undergoing PD treatment for at least 3 months were evaluated. The Kidney Disease Quality of Life-SF version 1.3 (KDQOL-SF™) was used to assess QoL, the 7-point Subjective Global Assessment (ASG-7p) for malnutrition, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) for physical activity levels. The patients were followed up for 6 months, and the occurrence of hospital admissions during this period was assessed.

Forty-nine patients were evaluated with a mean age of 60.7 ± 16.1 years, and 53% were women. The average QoL score was 62.9 points. Among the patients, 26.5% were malnourished and 60% were sedentary. During the follow-up period, 34.7% of the individuals required hospitalization. There was no association between QoL, malnutrition, and level of physical activity. However, QoL was associated with hospitalization [54.2 (43.5–64.7) vs 69.7 (56.6–77.6); p = 0.027], with a greater influence of mental health aspects on the occurrence of hospitalization (41.0 ± 12.1 vs 50.9 ± 10.2; p = 0.004). In the logistic regression model, we found that a higher QoL score was a protective factor for hospitalization (OR: 0.95; IC5-95% 0.902–0.994; p = 0.028).

Patients with impaired health-related QoL perception are more susceptible to hospital admission, however, without association with malnutrition and a sedentary lifestyle.