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Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIMS Peripheral neuropathy is considered a common complication among hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, there is no diagnostic tool designed to evaluate peripheral neuropathy among these patients. Neuropathic pain is reported to be associated with disrupted quality of life (QOL) in hemodialysis patients. Peripheral neuropathy is overlooked, unassessed and insufficiently treated in these patients. Unfamiliar to the majority is a questionnaire on peripheral neuropathy called ‘painDETECT’, a self-reported instrument that classify profile of those presenting with neuropathic components. This study is the first to utilize the painDETECT Questionnaire in determining the incidence of peripheral neuropathy in HD patients and its association with QOL. METHOD This is single—center prospective cross-sectional study performed in a free-standing hemodialysis center in Davao City. The participants included hemodialysis patients enrolled from June to November 2021. Assessment was done using painDETECT Questionnaire (English/Tagalog version) to assess neuropathic pain, while the Short Form 36 (SF-36) quality of life scale was used to evaluate the correlation of pain and quality of life. RESULTS A total of 350 patients were enrolled, only 169 participants were included, majority were females 87 (51%), with mean age of 47.42 years. Among the patients, 149 experienced pain (88.17%), and 57 (35.85%) had neuropathic pain. The most common site of pain were the lower extremities (68.42%). Neuropathic pain was associated with length of time the patient had been on hemodialysis 4.35 (±3.20), however this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.006). It was found to be more common among older patients (53.4, P 0.001), with diabetes (78%) with very low estimated GFR (4 mL/min) and without residual renal function (RRF) (77.19%). The quality of life of these patients was found to be lower 69.49 (±13.91) (P 0.001). CONCLUSION PainDETECT questionnaire could be a useful and simple bedside tool to determine the presence of peripheral neuropathy among hemodialysis patients. This study showed that presence of peripheral neuropathy was significantly associated with older age, diabetes, very low eGFR, absent residual renal function and thus, it indeed affected their quality of life. With the use of this tool, early detection and intervention can be done to aid clinicians, with the hope of improving the quality of life of these hemodialysis patients.
Riza Rose Pasaylo (Sun,) studied this question.