Quality of life of chronic renal patients on hemodialysis in Marília, SP, Brazil.

INTRODUCTION

Hemodialysis is responsible for significant alterations in the quality of life of chronic renal patients.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the quality of life of patients on hemodialysis without depression (A) and those with some level of depression (B).

METHODS

This was a transversal and descriptive study in which the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the WHOQOL-bref scale were used.

RESULTS

The studied sample consisted of 130 patients, 65.15% in A, and 33.84% in B. The highest levels of depression were related to longer periods of treatment. Quality of life indexes were better for A, and, as certain domain increased, also were the others. More differences were observed in the Psychological (A: 69.40 and B: 49.22) and Physical (A: 62.81 and B: 42.19) Domains; and the Social Relations Domain had a better average between the populations, as well as a better correlation with the other domains.

CONCLUSION

Although there was a low prevalence of depression among hemodialysis patients, some investments should be made in the social, psychological and physical support aiming to improve their quality of life.