The quality of life of renal dialysis patients: trying to find the missing measurement.

The physiological status of the individual renal patient is monitored regularly to ensure adequate dialysis is maintained, however, the psychosocial status of the renal patient is not subject to the same amount of attention. This study aimed to determine the Quality of Life and psychosocial needs of a sample of renal dialysis patients (n = 170), and to consider methods of routine clinical assessment and evaluation. Difficulties with psychosocial adjustment and physical symptoms were demonstrated. These findings provide evidence for the need to routinely assess psychosocial status in this patient population. There are some scales which could be incorporated into standard settings and used as outcome measures to assess the effectiveness of interventions, and for planning and resource allocation purposes.