Abstract
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) presents a major health burden globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as South Africa. Patients receiving dialysis often face reduced quality of life due to financial strain, poor health outcomes and limited access to health services. In South Africa, there is little research that focuses on quality of life among CKD patients in the public healthcare system.
This study aimed to identify the factors associated with quality of life among CKD patients undergoing dialysis at a public hospital in Gauteng, South Africa. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample size was calculated using the Corrected Cochran's formula as 196 CKD patients but the response rate was 62% (121 respondents). The convenience sample of 121 CKD patients was recruited from the total population of 399 patients on dialysis in Gauteng public hospitals. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire that included the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) tool which assessed four quality of life domains namely: physical health, psychological health, social and Environmental health. The questionnaire also included sociodemographic and treatment-related information.
Data were analysed using SPSS version 29. The overall QoL score was categorised into two groups: "poor " quality of life and "good" quality of life. A score of <50 was classified as “poor” quality of life and ≥50 as “good” quality of life. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data. Chi-square tests were used to examine the differences in characteristics between participants with good vs. poor quality of life.
Male participants constituted 50.4% (n=61), and female participants accounted for 46.3% (n=56). The majority of participants were aged between 31 and 50 years (48.8%, n=59), followed by those aged 51–70 years (28.1%, n=34). Regarding education, most participants had secondary education (64.5%, n=78), with a substantial portion also having tertiary education (30.6%, n=37). The majority were unemployed (67.8%, n=82) and resided in townships or locations (81.0%, n=98). Furthermore, over half of the participants were single (58.7%, n=71), and most earned less than R10,000 per month (68.6%, n=83)...