Impact of Different Variables on Recovery Time in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

Abstract

Abstract Introduction. Patients on hemodialysis (HD) are proven to have impaired Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) compared to the general population. Recovery from the hemodialysis session is a permanent problem among majority of patients receiving HD treatment. A partial explanation may be the osmotic imbalance between different compartments of the body due to the fluid and electrolyte movement across the cell membrane which is a part of the HD process itself. The aim of our study was to see whether the length of recovery time (RT) is associated with different clinically relevant variables and dialysis treatment features in our HD population. Methods. We performed a cross-sectional study on patients receiving trice weekly HD in a single hemodialysis center. The recovery time was defined by posing a single question "How long does it take you to recover after a hemodialysis session?" and was calculated in hours (up to 2, 2-6, 6-12, and 12-24 hours) / minutes. Various demographic and clinical characteristics were analyzed for association with the RT. Results. The mean RT was 364.62±339.24 minutes. From all of the analyzed variables a significant statistical correlation was obtained with the level of albumin, urea, interdialytic weight gain (IDWG), protein catabolic rate (PCR), body mass index (BMI) and the level of hemoglobin (p<0.05 for all parameters). The longest mean RT had patients with hypertension and glomerulonephritis as a primary cause of ESRD and the shortest, patients with an adult dominant polycystic kidney disease. With the multiple regression analysis a significant correlation was obtained only for the level of hemoglobin (Hb) with a coefficient for partial regression analysis - 0.2635. The t-test showed that the influence of the level of hemoglobin on recovery time in patients was statistically significant (p = 0.039). Conclusions. RT in our study was associated with IDWG, albumin, urea, BMI, and PCR, while the level of hemoglobin was also shown to have a significant impact on the RT and on patients’ overall health status. Hence, we could conclude that maintaining Hb levels in dialysis patients within reference values among the other benefits, may improve the recovery time and HRQoL of our patients.