Abdalrahim M, Al-Sutari M. Distressing symptoms and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease. World J Nephrol 2025; 14(1): 101480 [DOI: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i1.101480]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Manal Al-Sutari, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Acute and Chronic Care Nursing, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Al-Saro, Al-Salt, Amman 19111, Jordan. m.satari@ammanu.edu.jo
Research Domain of This Article
Nursing
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Nephrol. Mar 25, 2025; 14(1): 101480 Published online Mar 25, 2025. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i1.101480
Distressing symptoms and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease
Maysoon Abdalrahim, Manal Al-Sutari
Maysoon Abdalrahim, School of Nursing, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Manal Al-Sutari, Department of Acute and Chronic Care Nursing, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19111, Jordan
Co-first authors: Maysoon Abdalrahim and Manal Al-Sutari.
Author contributions: Abdalrahim M and Al-Sutari M contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Abdalrahim M conceptualized the study, designed the methodology, and critically reviewed the final manuscript; Al-Sutari M analyzed the data and contributed to the discussion section and drafted the manuscript; Both authors have agreed to be accountable for their contributions and ensure the accuracy and integrity of the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol priorities voluntary participant and non-compromised care, as approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at The University of Jordan (IRB No. PMs.19.6).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all participants and data privacy was ensured. Data collection adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki for Human Ethics and the Consent to Participate. Measures were taken to minimize participant discomfort and ensure confidentiality and security in accordance with the ethical guidelines.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of the study.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Manal Al-Sutari, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Acute and Chronic Care Nursing, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Al-Saro, Al-Salt, Amman 19111, Jordan. m.satari@ammanu.edu.jo
Received: September 15, 2024 Revised: November 29, 2024 Accepted: January 7, 2025 Published online: March 25, 2025 Processing time: 126 Days and 15.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an incapacitating illness associated with distressing symptoms (DS) that have negative impact on patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL).
AIM
To assess the severity of DS and their relationships with HRQOL among patients with CKD in Jordan.
METHODS
A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sampling approach was used to recruit the participants. Patients with CKD (n = 140) who visited the outpatient clinics in four hospitals in Amman between November 2021 and December 2021 were included.
RESULTS
The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System was used to measure the severity of the DS while the Short Form-36 tool was used to measure the HRQOL. Participants’ mean age was 50.9 (SD = 15.14). Most of them were males (n = 92, 65.7%), married (n = 95, 67.9%), and unemployed (n = 93, 66.4%). The highest DS were tiredness (mean = 4.68, SD = 2.98) and worse well-being (mean = 3.69, SD = 2.43). The highest HRQOL mean score was for the bodily pain scale with a mean score of 68.50 out of 100 (SD = 32.02) followed by the emotional well-being scale with mean score of 67.60 (SD = 18.57).
CONCLUSION
Patients with CKD had suboptimal HRQOL, physically and mentally. They suffer from multiple DS that have a strong association with diminished HRQOL such as tiredness and depression. Therefore, healthcare providers should be equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to promote individualized strategies that focusing on symptom management.
Core Tip: This study examines distressing symptoms (DS) and their effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in 140 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale and the Short Form-36 were used. The results reveal that tiredness and worse well-being are the most severe symptoms. Physical health scores (48.50) are notably lower than mental health scores (58.24). Negative correlations exist between DS (e.g., depression, tiredness) and HRQOL, emphasizing the need for tailored symptom management. The study highlights the suboptimal HRQOL in CKD patients and recommends interdisciplinary care and further research for effective symptom management strategies.
