Validation of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form questionnaire in kidney transplant patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the basic psychometric properties, reliability, and validity of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form (KDQOL-SF) questionnaire in kidney transplant patients.

Methods: The reliability and validity of the instrument were determined in 418 kidney transplant patients followed in a single outpatient transplant centre.

Results: Internal consistency of all the Medical Outcome Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) domains was very good, and the Cronbach's alpha value was above .

Chronic insomnia in kidney transplant recipients.

Background: Recent studies confirmed that sleep disorders have a significant impact on various aspects of health in patients at different stages of chronic kidney disease. At the same time, there is an almost complete lack of information on the prevalence and correlates of insomnia in kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, the Athens Insomnia Scale was used to assess the prevalence of insomnia in a large sample of kidney transplant recipients compared with wait-listed dialysis patients and also a matched group obtained from a nationally representative sample of the Hungarian population.

Anemia in kidney transplanted patients.

Background: Although a known cardiovascular risk factor, anemia in the renal transplant recipients has only recently been receiving an increasing attention.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, data was obtained from 959 patients followed at a single outpatient transplant clinic. Based on the guideline of the American Society of Transplantation, anemia was defined as hemoglobin (Hb) < or =130 g/L in males and < or =120 g/L in females.

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%.