Evaluation of Impact of Counseling on Quality of Life of Chronic Kidney Disease and Hemodialysis Patients

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health problem. Patients having CKD/ end stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing haemodialysis deal not only with stressful chronic illness but complex and demanding treatment regimen, affecting quality of life of both patients and their families. The current study was carried out to identify the risk factors causing CKD and to assess the impact of counseling on the quality of life of CKD and haemodialysis patients. A total of 52 patients were enrolled in the study. Patients were counseled and educated about their disease, diet, drugs and life style modifications on each follow up i.e. at one month and third month. A validated QOL questionnaire (α=0.95) was administered along with specially designed and pre validated patient information leaflets. Hypertension was found to be the most common cause of CKD in 25 (48.1%) patients, followed by diabetes in 4 (7.6%), hypertension along with diabetes in 17 (32.7%), glomerulonephritis in 3(5.8%) and immunological causes in 3(5.8%) patients. Statistically significant improvement was noted in social functioning, emotional, mental and self evaluation parameters (p=0.0175, p=0.0143, p<0.0001, p<0.0001 respectively) indicating the impact of counseling. From the above results it can be concluded that the clinical pharmacist provided counseling can help in improving the quality of life of CKD and haemodialysis patients.