Longitudinal Associations Between Social Support and Quality of Life in Chronic Kidney Disease in a Hispanic Sample: An Analysis of the CRIC Cohort.
TL;DR
Results suggest social support can have a protective effect on QoL before and after ESRD diagnosis, and associations were found between change in MOS Overall Support and change in all KDQOL subscales.
Abstract
Background
Social support is an important correlate of quality of life in patients living with chronic illness. Little work has examined this association in a longitudinal manner among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Method
The current work utilized ancillary data from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study, focusing on the Hispanic sub-cohort (n = 250). The Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) social support survey and Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-36) were analyzed over a 12-year period. Only participants who progressed to end-stage renal disease (ESRD; n = 140) during the study were included in analyses.
Results
Piecewise multivariate growth models assessed change in KDQOL subscales with the MOS before and after patients entered ESRD. Average MOS and KDQOL scores declined both before and after ESRD. Before ESRD, there were significant correlations between change in the MOS and KDQOL Burden (r = 0.38, p < 0.001) and Effects (r = 0.59, p < 0.001), indicating that less decline on the MOS was associated with less decline in quality of life. After entering ESRD, associations were found between change in MOS Overall Support and change in all KDQOL subscales: Burden (r = 0.34, p < 0.001), Effects (r = 0.85, p < 0.001), and Symptoms (r = 0.98, p < 0.001). These results reveal that after entering ESRD, patients with less decline in support showed less decline in KDQOL across all CKD-specific domains.
Conclusion
Results suggest social support can have a protective effect on QoL before and after ESRD diagnosis.