Sociodemographic factors and patient perceptions are associated with attitudes to kidney transplantation among haemodialysis patients.

Background: Treatment decisions made by patients with chronic kidney disease are crucial in the renal transplantation process. These decisions are influenced, amongst other factors, by attitudes towards different treatment options, which are modulated by knowledge and perceptions about the disease and its treatment and many other subjective factors. Here we study the attitude of dialysis patients to renal transplantation and the association of sociodemographic characteristics, patient perceptions and experiences with this attitude.

Factor structure and reliability of the Hungarian version of the Illness Intrusiveness Scale: invariance across North American and Hungarian dialysis patients.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare the factor structure and to assess the reliability of the Hungarian version of the Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale (IIRS), testing internal validity and employing simultaneous confirmatory factor analysis (SCFA) in two large samples of North American versus Hungarian patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Methods: Translation was conducted according to current recommendations. Following pilot testing, 365 maintenance haemodialysis patients completed the scale.

Sleep disorders and illness intrusiveness in patients on chronic dialysis.

Background: The prevalence of sleep problems (insomnia, restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movements in sleep and sleep apnoea) has been shown to be high in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and might contribute to impaired quality of life in this population.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaires, we examined the prevalence of sleep disorders and assessed their effect on different aspects of health-related quality of life in a sample of Hungarian patients on maintenance dialysis.

Results: Our data confirm that sleep problems are frequent in patients with ESRD; 65% of the patients reported symptoms of at least one specific sleep disorder; insomnia was the most common sleep complaint with 49%, the prevalence of sleep apnoea was 32% and the prevalence of restless legs syndrome was 15%.