Kidney Failure Patients' Perceptions and Definitions of Health: A Qualitative Study.

Rationale & Objective: Patients with kidney failure who have used multiple treatment modalities are a unique source of information for how different options may best fit values. We aimed to understand how people interpret their health and kidney failure treatment experience to inform providers who facilitate shared decision-making conversations.

Study Design: This qualitative, interpretive phenomenological study explores how patients with kidney failure interpret health throughout their treatment trajectory.

Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-Item Short Form Survey (KDQOL-36) Normative Values for the United States Dialysis Population and New Single Summary Score.

Background: The Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-item short form survey (KDQOL-36) is a widely used, patient-reported outcome measure for patients on dialysis. Efforts to aid interpretation are needed.

Methods: We used a sample of 58,851 dialysis patients participating in the Medical Education Institute (MEI) KDQOL Complete program, and 443,947 patients from the US Renal Data System (USRDS) to develop the KDQOL-36 Summary Score (KSS) for the kidney-targeted KDQOL-36 scales (Burdens of Kidney Disease [BKD], Symptoms and Problems of Kidney Disease [SPKD], and Effects of Kidney Disease [EKD]).

Negligible impact of differential item functioning between Black and White dialysis patients on the Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-item short form survey (KDQOL-36).

Purpose: Black dialysis patients report better health-related quality of life (HRQOL) than White patients, which may be explained if Black and White patients respond systematically differently to HRQOL survey items.

Methods: We examined differential item functioning (DIF) of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-item (KDQOL-36) Burden of Kidney Disease, Symptoms and Problems with Kidney Disease, and Effects of Kidney Disease scales between Black (n = 18,404) and White (n = 21,439) dialysis patients. We fit multiple group confirmatory factor analysis models with increasing invariance: a Configural model (invariant factor structure), a Metric model (invariant factor loadings), and a Scalar model (invariant intercepts).

Psychometric Properties of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-Item Short-Form Survey (KDQOL-36) in the United States.

Background: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services require that dialysis patients' health-related quality of life be assessed annually. The primary instrument used for this purpose is the Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-Item Short-Form Survey (KDQOL-36), which includes the SF-12 as its generic core and 3 kidney disease-targeted scales: Burden of Kidney Disease, Symptoms and Problems of Kidney Disease, and Effects of Kidney Disease. Despite its broad use, there has been limited evaluation of KDQOL-36's psychometric properties.

Successful daily home hemodialysis patient-care partner dyads: benefits outweigh burdens.

Understanding and communicating the benefits vs. burdens of short daily home hemodialysis (SDHD) is presumed to be important to the success of recruiting patients and care partners and preventing dropout. We conducted an in-depth qualitative study of 13 patient and care partner couples (dyads) who completed at least 6 months of SDHD after at least 6 months of in-center hemodialysis to inform strategies for screening, training, and support to improve SDHD retention.

Self-efficacy and self-management behaviors in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Although past research has examined self-management among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), little is known about self-management in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In this cross-sectional survey (no intervention), 174 patients with CKD (serum creatinine > or =1.7 mg/dL) completed self-reported measures of self-efficacy, physical and mental functioning, and self-management.

In-center hemodialysis patients' use of the internet in the United States: a national survey.

Background: Education is critical to help patients with chronic kidney disease self-manage their illness by thoroughly understanding their treatment options, medications, diet and fluids, and symptoms.

Methods: This study assesses in-center hemodialysis patients' use of the Internet in general and for health information seeking, both independently and by proxy-asking a family member or friend. Patients (n = 1,804) were recruited from 37 randomly selected dialysis clinics in 18 End-Stage Renal Disease Networks.

Activating chronic kidney disease patients and family members through the Internet to promote integration of care.

Purpose: To describe the potential role of the Internet as a vehicle for improving integration of care through activating chronic kidney disease patients and their family members. Also, to describe how that potential is being developed through a website sponsored by the Medicare program in the United States.

Background: The Internet is expanding at a rapid rate, and health-related websites are one of its most popular features.