Physical Health Score Assessment May Not Predict Mental Health Score of Dialysis Patients

Abstract

The state of physical and mental health has been an important factor influencing the quality of life in the hemodialysis patient population. The SF-36 in the past, and now the KDQOL-36 questionnaire have been used routinely to assess illness perception and quality of life (QOL) among hemodialysis patients. However, it is not clear whether these surveys can truly predict the effect of physical illness on mental health. We present routine quality improvement data from a small cohort studied in an urban dialysis unit in which the social worker performed standard questionnaires per mandate, compared results to unstructured verbal interviews, and noted a poor correlation. The patients who were not expected to have negative perceptions of quality of life actually had negative findings. The findings were more prominent for the mental health aspect of the survey than the physical health aspect, which correlated with patients’ symptoms. A total of 92 patients were surveyed and interviewed, and their mental health score could not be correlated in 44% of patients who had a low mental health score and 17.5% of those with a high mental health score.