Influences on Quality of Life in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients (Report‪)‬

Introduction Chronic diseases can alter a patient's life and negatively affect their physical, psychological, mental, social, and spiritual aspects of health. In other words, chronic conditions can have a negative impact on patient's quality of life (QoL). Quality of life has been defined as "individuals' perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns" (WHOQOL, 1993). Studies support the relation between various types of chronic diseases and impaired QoL, in addition to QoL improvement by interventions leading to alleviation of symptoms and of the disease. This has been shown in a variety of chronic diseases such as chronic low back pain and homeopathic treatment (Witt et al., 2009), physical activity in Crohn's disease (Crumbock et al. 2009), and comprehensive anemic care in predialysis chronic kidney disease (Hansen et al, 2009). Moreover, strong correlations were demonstrated between scores of QoL and subjective and objective findings of ESKD patients (Kalantar-Zadeh et al, 2005).