Influence of Frailty on Health-Related Quality of Life Trajectories in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in India

TL;DR

This study explores how frailty affects the quality of life of chronic kidney disease patients in India, finding that frail individuals have significantly lower physical and mental health scores.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the relationship between frailty and health-related quality of life in CKD patients within the Indian context.

Findings

Frail CKD patients showed significantly lower physical and mental quality of life scores compared to non-frail patients.

Frailty was negatively associated with symptom problems, physical component summary, and mental component summary domains of HRQOL.

Abstract

Background: Frailty is a critical concern for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, contributing to increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes and diminished quality of life. However, there is limited research on frailty’s impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among dialysis and pre-dialysis patients in the Indian context. Methods: This study involved participants aged 18 and above with CKD stages 3–5. Frailty was assessed using the Morley FRAIL questionnaire, and HRQOL was measured using the RAND version of the KDQOL-36 Survey. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 29, focusing on the association between frailty and HRQOL domains. Results: Among the 147 CKD patients, 56.46% were frail, and 43.56% were non-frail. Significant differences were noted between frail and non-frail groups in age (p = 0.036), CKD stages (p < 0.001), nutritional status (p < 0.001), Charlson comorbidity index (p < 0.001), BMI (p < 0.001), GFR (p < 0.001), CRP (p = 0.006), and serum albumin (p = 0.002). Frailty is significantly associated with lower physical (p < 0.001) and mental (p < 0.001) quality of life. Negative associations between frailty and KDQOL-36 domains, especially symptom problems, PCS, and MCS, were established. Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the importance of frailty screening in CKD patients. Early identification may help guide targeted strategies to support HRQOL. However, longitudinal studies are needed to assess frailty progression and the impact of potential interventions.

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