In contrast, our knowledge of the burden and impact of anxiety disorders, lower perceived social support and impaired HRQOL in these patients is limited. Further studies using standardized diagnostic criteria are required. The proposed mechanisms by which psychosocial factors influence the clinical course of see more CKD also require elucidating and may provide targets for clinical intervention. In Australia, current clinical practice guidelines advocate the provision of educational
information regarding the psychological aspects of CKD for both pre-dialysis and dialysis patients.[51] However, there are currently no existing recommendations to guide the routine assessment of psychosocial factors and HRQOL. Effective assessment and intervention will require considerable resources and integration of patient care involving physicians, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals and family members. Innovative client and family focused models of care in which patients are supported and encouraged to improve health literacy, capability and autonomy may be efficacious;[52] however, high level clinical evidence is required. Data from Canada indicate that the economic benefits of delaying the disease progression of CKD may more than compensate
for the additional costs of implementing a multidisciplinary model.[53] This review highlights the need for methodologically robust prospective studies to assess the burden and relative influence of psychosocial factors and HRQOL on outcomes at different
stages of CKD. This has the potential to provide BIBW2992 an evidence base for revising healthcare provision in order to optimize the clinical care and reduce the public health burden of this growing patient population. “
“Since the introduction of haemodialysis in the management of acute kidney injury in the 1940s and for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the 1960s dialysis has become one of the most successful advances in medical technology, with almost 11 000 patients Tenofovir nmr currently receiving dialysis in Australia and almost 2500 in New Zealand. Like all medical technologies, its place continues to evolve. For a time, dialysis was seen as a treatment best delivered only to younger patients without diabetes; today the greatest uptake of dialysis is in patients over age 65 and the most common cause of needing dialysis is diabetes. Along with these extended criteria for dialysis, that have evolved over many years, has come the recognition that the older dialysis patient often has considerable co-morbidity and frailty, that time spent on dialysis is not always beneficial to these patients and that their overall prognosis is considerably worse than their younger counterparts. CARI guidelines recommend that ‘an expectation of survival with an acceptable quality of life’ is a useful starting point for recommending dialysis.