The association between ankle-brachial index and quality of life in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Ankle-brachial index (ABI) is an important indicator of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and PAD has a negative impact on quality of life (QOL). However, the correlation between ABI and QOL is unknown among chronic hemodialysis patients. Ankle-brachial index was measured, and WHOQOL-BRIEF (TW) questionnaire was completed. The association between ABI and QOL was analyzed using linear regression. A total of 54 chronic hemodialysis patients (mean age of 56.2 +/- 14.6 years) were included. Ankle-brachial index was positively associated with QOL (r = .448, P = .001). The QOL scores were 3.1 +/- 2.9 and 2.6 +/- 0.4 for 37 patients with an ABI more than 0.9 and 17 patients with an ABI less than 0.9 or more than 1.3 (p < .001). In linear regression, only ABI was significantly associated with QOL scores with a beta of .448 (95% CI: 0.443 to 1.55, P = .001). Ankle-brachial index is positively correlated to QOL among chronic hemodialysis patients.