| [ Summary ] |
The current trend in most medical fields is to provide quality assurance (QA) concerning the acceptance of treatment and QOL for patients. QOL must be considered a priority in the chronic dialysis field. However, representative strategies for achieving this purpose have not been established for chronic dialysis treatment. Chronic dialysis patients experience a number of uncomfortable dialysis related symptoms such as intra-dialytic hypotension, depression, insomnia and pruritus. Some of these symptoms may be independent factors related to patient survival. The mechanisms of these symptoms have been recognized in association with dialysis. Related symptoms are usually observed in standard dialysis programs. These programs consist of treatments three times a week for 3 to 4 hours per session. We have established a therapeutic concept that focuses on these symptoms and helps to ameliorate them, primarily through adjusting dialysis prescriptions. Therapeutic strategies must guarantee high quality dialysis therapy and longer survival of dialysis patients with higher QOL and acceptance by patients. |