P-34 Haemodialysis vs. peritoneal dialysis: a quality of life assessment study in Guyana

Methods: This cross-sectional, quantitative study surveyed a total of 100 patients in Region 4, Guyana from January 2014 to October, 2022. Primary data was collected using the KDQoL-36 questionnaire. The KDQoL-36 scoring program was used to generate QoL scores, means and SD. Data collected were analysed using SPSS v. 26. The independent t-T-est was used to determine statisical difference in QoL scores among gender and age. ANOVA was used to assess statistically significance between income and QoL,  while simple linear regression was used to determine any signficant relationship between age and QoL.=95%, p-value <0.05=statistical significance.

Results: Of the surveyed patients, the mean age was 52 years, while the mean time on dialysis was 2.38 years. Among  the respondents 65%  were  from  the  low-income bracket but there was no statistical significance between QoL and income. Similarly, there was no statistical significance cance between gender, age and QoL. The study found that HD and PD patients had average QoL. However, HD had a better physical composite QOL score when compared with PD patients. Furthermore, this study found that statistical significance differences exists between duration and frequency of dialysis and QoL that is, patients that were on dialysis longer had fewer symptoms or problems listed.

Conclusion: Though the QoL was average for both haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients, haemodialysis patients had a better QoL physical composite score than peritoneal dialysis patients. Additionally, patients who have been on dialysis longer and more frequently have had less problems noted. Finally, the sample size may be too small to discover statistical significance between demographic characteristics and dialysis modalities and a larger study is recommended.