health-related quality of life in patients on hemodialysis compared to peritoneal dialysis:a cross-sectional study

Background & objective: health-related quality of life (hrqol) in patients with chronic renal diseases is an important factor for physicians to select a dialysis modality. the present study aimed to compare the hrqol in hemodialysis (hd) and peritoneal dialysis (pd) patients. materials & methods: in this cross-sectional study, a sample of hd patients and a sample of age- and sex-matched pd patients with at least six months dialysis were recruited. then, the quality of life was assessed using the short form health survey (sf-36). demographic and disease-related information was also recorded. then, data were analyzed using the spss software (ver. 21). results: totally, 172 hd patients and 86 age- and sex-matched pd controls were entered into the study. overall the pd patients had more dialysis per week (p < 0.001). comparing quality of life between two groups showed significant differences in physical functioning, rolephysical, role-emotional and physical component summary observed (p < 0.05). in addition, role physical in hd patients and bodily pain in pd were the worst and best dimensions of quality of life, respectively. conclusion: the findings suggest that patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis had a better quality of life in most measures. it seems that we need to educate and encourage patients to choose peritoneal dialysis in order to enjoy a better quality of life.