Abstract

Background: All stages of CKD are associated with increased risks of premature mortality and/or decreased quality of life.

Aims of the study: To assess quality of life for hemodialysis elderly patients at Assiut city.

Subjects and method: descriptive design was carried out for hemodialysis elderly patients (83) within all hemodialysis units at Assiut city. Structured interview questionnaire developed by the researchers was used in the study, it was structured into two parts: Part 1): It was included personal characteristics of the elderly, such as name, age, marital status. etc., Part (2): Quality of life index scale, Dialysis Version-III, Arabic Version [1].

Results: It was noticed that 71.1%of the studied elderly hemodialysis patients’ age ranged from 65-75 years old, while only 4.8% of them were more than 85 years old 90.4% of hemodialysis elderly had mild to moderate QOL.

Conclusion: It was concluded that less than on tenth of the studied hemodialysis elderly had high quality of life.

Recommendation: Enhance health care services level for elderly to eliminate complications and improve quality of life, develop specific transportation supportive system for retired elderly to improve quality of life.

Keywords: Elderly; Hemodialysis; Quality of life