#2891 Comparing health-related quality of life and symptom burden in patients undergoing twice-weekly versus thrice-weekly haemodialysis
Authors: van Lieshout Thomas Sebastiaan , Roos Sanne , Driehuis Esmee , Abrahams Alferso , Van Jaarsveld Brigit , Penne Erik Lars 
Published: May 2024

Background and Aims

Patients with kidney failure who initiate haemodialysis (HD) have traditionally followed a thrice-weekly, 4-hour schedule. Recently, incremental dialysis (i.e. initiating HD with lower frequency and/or treatment duration) has been advocated. It has been suggested that residual kidney function is better preserved, while mortality is similar when initiating dialysis with a twice versus thrice weekly schedule. It remains unclear which impact initiating dialysis twice a week has on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the short and long term. Therefore, the aim of this study was first to investigate the impact of following a twice-weekly dialysis schedule on the mental and physical HRQoL and symptom burden compared to thrice-weekly dialysis during the first year of dialysis. Second, to investigate the long term impact on mental and physical HRQoL and symptom burden of patients who solely started on a twice-weekly versus thrice-weekly schedule.

Method

Data were obtained from the ongoing multicentre, prospective, observational Dutch nOcturnal and hoME dialysis Study To Improve Clinical Outcomes (DOMESTICO). This study longitudinally compares HRQoL between home and in-center dialysis. For this analysis, incident HD patients &gt; 18 years were included, if they started on a twice-weekly or thrice-weekly schedule. Mental and physical HRQoL was measured using the validated 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF12, summary scores ranging from 0 to 100). Symptom burden was measured using the dialysis symptom index (DSI), consisting of 30 items on dialysis-related symptoms, these symptoms are reported using a 5-point Likert scale. The overall burden score, ranging from 0 to 150, was calculated by summing every symptom and its severity. The first aim was longitudinally analysed using linear mixed models, using measures at 3, 6 and 12 months after start dialysis. The second aim was cross-sectionally analysed at 1, 2 and 3 years after dialysis initiation using linear regression models. All models were adjusted for possible confounders.

Results

A total of 1007 patients were included, of whom 205 started on a twice-weekly schedule and 802 on a thrice-weekly schedule. The total population had a mean age of 64 ± 15 years and 35% were women. There was no significant difference in baseline characteristics between twice-weekly and thrice-weekly dialysis. At baseline mental and physical HRQoL for patients on twice-weekly dialysis were 45.9 ± 9.5 and 36.0 ± 10.7, respectively. In thrice-weekly dialysis this was 45.8 ± 10.3 and 35.0 ± 9.7. The symptom burden score at baseline was 33.0 ± 19.6 for twice-weekly and 34.0 ± 21.7 for thrice-weekly patients. As shown in Table 1, there were no significant differences in HRQoL or symptom burden over the first year of dialysis when comparing twice-weekly with thrice weekly HD. In Table 2 the long-term cross-sectional analyses show that starting with a twice-weekly schedule results in physical and mental HRQoL scores gradually becoming lower, with a statistically significant decrease in physical HRQoL score at 3 years after start dialysis (ß = −0.825, 95% CI −14.11; −2.38). There was no significant difference in symptom burden between the two schedules.

Conclusion

We found no differences in HRQoL or symptom burden during the first year of dialysis comparing incident patients on a twice-weekly versus thrice-weekly hemodialysis schedule. Conversely, starting on a twice-weekly dialysis schedule appears to be associated with a lower HRQoL, especially physical HRQoL, in the longer term. Following our results, physicians should be cautious of the possible negative effects on HRQoL when prescribing a twice-weekly dialysis schedule.