Patients who switched from short daily hemodialysis say they have an improved quality of life
ORLANDO—Patients who moved from short daily hemodialysis (SDHD) to nocturnal daily hemodialysis (NDHD) say they experienced im-proved quality of life with a more normal lifestyle, according to a small study. Researchers presented findings here at the 2008 Annual Dialysis Conference.
John Moran, MD, of WellBound LLC and Satellite Healthcare in Mountain View, Calif., and colleagues studied 11 patients (four women, seven men) who electively switched from SDHD to NDHD on the NxStage System One machine. The patients had a mean age of
53 years and a mean total of 85 months on dialysis.
The cohort had been on SDHD for a median of 20 months when they switched to NDHD. SDHD was performed six times daily for a mean of 165 minutes and NDHD was performed six nights a week for a mean of 458 minutes.
After a mean of 13.5 months on NDHD, antihypertensive usage de-creased by 55% from the already low requirement on SDHD. The patients filled out a symptom questionnaire to rate physical and mental well-being on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 10 is the best, 1 is the worst). The patients indicated improvement in all symptoms in appetite, fatigue, or exertional dyspnea, and strong improvement in taste, restless legs, activity, energy level, and ability to work and exercise. All had a major improvement in sexual function.