Quality of Life of Patients Undergoing Haemodialysis at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital

Abstract Background: Renal Replacement Therapies (RRTs) like haemodialysis only partially corrects the symptoms experienced by the patient and provokes additional changes in the lifestyles of patients. These changes can affect Quality of life (QOL) of the patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure the quality of life of patients undergoing haemodialysis at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH), The GambiaMethod: A cross-sectional study design was used. The Kidney Disease Quality of Life –Short Form (KDQOL-SF) questionnaire was adapted and used to collect data from 44 participants undergoing haemodialysis at the time of data collection. The data was analysed using SPSS version 20 and t-test and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the difference of quality of life, among the patients in relation to their demographic variables.Results: The finding showed that the majority of the patients were female 30(68.2%) and the mean age was 43.3 years ranging from 20- 80 years. Hypertension was the major cause of renal failure (n=27; 61.4%) of the patients. The patients have a poor quality of life with a mean score of 34. 8%. Independent t-test shows that the physical composite score (PCS), Mental composite score (MCS), Kidney disease composite score (KDCS) were all higher in males compared to females, with PCS being significant at a p- value of 0.007 and KDCS at a P-value of 0.01. The MCS was significantly higher among the unmarried patients at a p-value of 0.022 as well as for diabetes and hypertension compared to unknown causes of KidneyConclusion: The low PCS, MCS and KDCS among the patients receiving haemodialysis treatment in EFSTH indicate a poor quality of life. Therefore, more efforts need to be done to improve the quality of life for this patients.