The Kidney Outcomes Prediction and Evaluation (KOPE) study: a prospective cohort investigation of patients undergoing hemodialysis. Study design and baseline characteristics

Developing a health-related quality-of-life measure for end-stage renal disease: The CHOICE Health Experience Questionnaire

The Choices for Healthy Outcomes in Caring for End-Stage Renal Disease ([ESRD] CHOICE) Study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative dialysis prescriptions. As part of CHOICE, we developed an instrument for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for patients with ESRD that would complement the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Survey (SF-36) and be sensitive to differences in dialysis modality (hemodialysis [HD] and peritoneal dialysis [PD]) and dialysis dose. The selection of HRQOL domains to be included was based on: (1) a structured literature review of 47 articles describing 53 different instruments; (2) content analysis of five focus groups with HD and PD patients, nephrologists, and other providers; (3) a survey of 110 dialysis providers about features of different modalities that affect patient HRQOL; and (4) a semistructured survey of 25 patients with ESRD on the effects of dialysis on functioning and HRQOL. To help prioritize domains and items identified by these methods, a representative sample of 136 dialysis patients rated each item for frequency and bother. A panel of nephrologists provided advice about the salience of items to modality or dose. Items and scales were selected with a preference for existing measures tested in patients with ESRD and were tested for reliability and validity. The first four steps yielded 22 HRQOL domains that included 96 items: 8 generic domains in the SF-36 (health perceptions, physical, social, physical and emotional role function, pain, mental health, and energy); 8 additional generic domains (cognitive functioning, sexual functioning, sleep, work, recreation, travel, finances, and general quality of life); and 6 ESRD-specific domains (diet, freedom, time, body image, dialysis access [catheters and/or vascular], and symptoms). New items were developed or adapted to assess ESRD-specific domains. Scales for these items showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > 0.70, except for time [alpha = 0.57] and quality of life [alpha = 0.68]), as well as convergent and discriminant construct validity in a sample of 928 patients. The final questionnaire included 21 domains (time was deleted) and 83 items. We have designed a patient-centered instrument, the CHOICE Health Experience Questionnaire, that addresses domains that may be sensitive to differences in dialysis modality and dose and shows evidence for reliability and validity as a measure of HRQOL in ESRD.

Peritoneal dialysis adequacy and risk of death

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between dialysis dose, patient characteristics, and medical comorbidities on mortality in chronic peritoneal dialysis patients.

METHODS

This work comprised a study cohort of 1446 patients obtained from a random sample of chronic peritoneal dialysis patients from each dialysis center in three southeastern states. Data collected on a standardized form were used to calculate weekly Kt/V urea and creatinine clearance. Data were linked to Network files containing data on patient demographic and medical comorbidities.

RESULTS

Both weekly Kt/V urea and creatinine clearance were measured at least once in only 60.5% of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients and 63.7% of cycler patients. Among the 873 patients who had at least one calculable adequacy measure, the mean (+/-SD) weekly Kt/V urea was 2.13 +/- 0.55, and the normalized mean weekly creatinine clearance was 62.9 +/- 20.4 L/week/m2. During the seven month period of follow-up, there were 140 deaths. In separate logistic regression models that included all of the studied risk factors, using separate variables for the urinary and peritoneal components of dialysis adequacy, each 10 L/week/1.73 m2 increase in the urinary component of weekly creatinine clearance was associated with a 40% decreased risk of death, and each 0.1 unit increase in the urinary component of weekly Kt/V urea was associated with a 12% decreased risk of death. In contrast, the dialysate components of neither weekly creatinine clearance nor weekly Kt/V urea were predictive of death. Other factors that were associated with an increased risk of death included increasing age, diabetes mellitus as the cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and a history of myocardial infarction.

CONCLUSIONS

Residual renal function, as expressed by weekly creatinine clearance or Kt/V urea, is an important predictor of death in chronic peritoneal dialysis patients. The nonsignificant findings regarding peritoneal clearances and mortality may possibly be secondary to the narrow range of peritoneal clearances in this study cohort.

The effect of an educational patient compliance program on serum phosphate levels in patients receiving hemodialysis

OBJECTIVE

This study sought to determine the effectiveness of a recently developed educational patient compliance program (A Taste for Life [1995]; Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL) on improving serum phosphate levels in patients receiving hemodialysis.

DESIGN

An ABA time series design was used.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING

Eighty-one patients receiving hemodialysis participated. The experimental group consisted of 50 participants (mean [M] = 57.9 years of age; 92% African-American; 62% female) from a private freestanding dialysis unit (Kinston, NC). The control group consisted of 31 control participants (M = 58.2 years of age; 90% African-American; 48% female) from a separate private freestanding dialysis unit (Greenville, NC).

INTERVENTION

The experimental group took part in the educational patient compliance program directed at dietary and medical regimes. The program used educational materials, interactive educational modules, motivational posters, creative games and puzzles, videos, and an in-center achievement contest. The control group did not partake in the program, but received individual ongoing monthly therapy that involved nutrition counseling consistent with the National Renal Diet (American Dietetic Association, 1993) and instruction regarding use of phosphate binders.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Serum phosphate levels were monitored monthly for 1 year (ie, 3, 3, and 6 months during pretreatment, treatment, and posttreatment, respectively).

RESULTS

No statistically significant differences were found in serum phosphate levels between the two groups (P >.05). There was, however, a significant difference across time within groups. Mean serum phosphate levels significantly declined during the treatment period and further during the posttreatment period relative to the pretreatment baseline (P <.05). Results were not compared with a group of patients receiving hemodialysis who received no nutrition counseling.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that an educational compliance program is equally effective as standard individual ongoing counseling in affecting serum phosphate levels among patients with end-stage renal disease who receive hemodialysis. Results suggest that renal dietitians choose types of intervention within each patient's continuity of care that support individual success.