Life’s quality of chronically dialyzed children in Poland

Introduction: The paper presents the possibility of assessing the quality of life (QOL) of children on dialysis. Purpose: To evaluate the QOL depending on the health status of children on dialysis, to compare the subjective assessment of the QOL and to identify some of the factors independently affecting the QOL. Materials and methods: The study has been conducted on a group of 28 children on dialysis. Research tools: Poland abbreviated version of the survey assessing the quality of life of The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL); survey constructed on the basis of the Polish version of Kidney Disease and Quality of LifeTM Short Form (KDQOL-SFTM) Version 1.2 and a questionnaire assessing QOL of children and adolescents with end-stage renal disease on dialysis and transplantation of kidneys by Rubik, Grenda, Jakubowska - Winecka and Dabrowska. Results: There were no significant differences in QOL between children treated with peritoneal dialysis and Hemodialisis (HD). While there is a strong correlation between the severity of depressive symptoms and the treatment's duration, financial status and parents' education. Conclusions: The phenomenon of reduced QOL must be counteracted. Medical pediatric staff of dialyze centers should especially pay attention to the problem of life’s quality, due to the intensity of disease’s impact on growing organism, should actively counteract the phenomena of its decrease by continuous therapeutic education of patient and his or her family.