#831 Associations of quality of life with hospitalization for infection and subsequent death in hemodialysis patients: Osaka Dialysis Complication Study

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aims Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as self-reported health status is known to predict mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Infection is one of the major causes for death in those patients, although limited studies have examined possible associations of HRQOL with infection-related outcomes. In the present study, we examined the associations of HRQOL scores with all-cause mortality, hospitalization for infection, and subsequent death in HD patients. Method Patients for this study were selected from the Osaka Dialysis Complication Study (ODCS) which is a prospective cohort study from 2012 to 2017 including a total of 1696 HD patients. HRQOL was assessed by Medical Outcomes Study short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire to determine scores of the physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS) at baseline, and patients were divided into tertiles of them. The key outcomes were all-cause mortality, hospitalization for infection, and subsequent death after infection. Association was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards models or Fine-Gray models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with the highest tertile of PCS or MCS (T3) as referent. Models were unadjusted and adjusted for potential confounders including major demographic factors, traditional cardiovascular risk factors, and the factors related to chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD), protein energy wasting and inflammation, and renal anemia. Results We analyzed data from 1464 patients, and we identified 384 all-cause deaths, 321 hospitalizations for infections, and 143 subsequent deaths following infection. Risk of all-cause death was the highest in the lowest PCS tertile in unadjusted model, and this association remained significant in multivariable-adjusted models. In addition, a lower PCS was significantly predictive of a higher risk of both hospitalization for infection in models unadjusted and adjusted for demographic variables, but not significant in a model adjusted for all confounders. However, risk of death after hospitalization for infection was significantly higher in the lowest PCS tertile in unadjusted and in multivariable-adjusted models, compared with the highest PCS tertile. In contrast, MCS was not associated with all-cause mortality, hospitalization for infection, or death following hospitalization for infection. Conclusion A low PCS was associated with both hospitalization for infection and subsequent death after infection in HD patients, but it was more closely associated with the latter. This study revealed that HRQOL, particularly its physical component, is an independent predictor of infection-related outcomes in this population.