Assessment of Hemodialysis Efficacy in Patients with End‑Stage Renal Failure in the Erbil Hemodialysis Center

Abstract

Background: Adequate and effective hemodialysis (HD) improves health‑related quality of life and reduces morbidity and mortality inpatients with end‑stage renal disease (ESRD). The efficacy of dialysis procedure applied on patients diagnosed with ESRD was evaluated in thecurrent investigation. Materials and Methods: In the present pre‑ and post‑test cohort study, out of 375 patients, 120 patients (46 males and74 females) on thrice‑weekly chronic HD program were followed up over 6 months for evaluation of dialysis efficacy and possible outcomes.The efficacy of HD was measured through the Kt/V method and urea reduction ratio (URR). Results: The current study showed that thestudied population (thrice‑weekly HD patients) represents a minority of patients, i.e., 35.2% (132 of 375), and all other receiving insufficientHD treatment usually on twice weekly around 3 h for each session (64.8%). The study showed that the dialysis adequacy of the patientsreached an adequate level by Kt/v and URR, 73.3% and 68.3%, respectively; the dialysis adequacy was increased with an increase in bloodflow rate (P = 0.042), dialysis session time (P = 0.005), and dialysis sessions (P = 0.008). Patients with lower body mass index and withoutcomorbidities were more likely to have adequate dialysis (P = 0.004 and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: HD treatment is suboptimal inErbil Dialysis Center. Intensive follow‑up and application of corrective measures may improve dialysis efficacy. Energetic efforts are requiredto examine and correct the reasons behind the dialysis inadequacy.