The Thai version of the KDQOL-36 questionnaire is reliable and valid for evaluating the quality of life in Thai dialysis patients.

Objective: The primary objectives were: 1) to study the impact of Qd (500 vs 800 ml/min) on the delivered dose by reused dialyzers, and 2) to determine dialysis efficiency of a dialyzer reused 15 times.Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized-controlled crossover study was conducted in 42 thrice-weekly hemodialysis (HD) patients (630 HD sessions in each Qd). Delivered doses at both Qds were assessed by single-pool Kt/V (spKt/V), equilibrated Kt/V (eKt/V) and online clearance monitoring Kt/V (Kt/VOCM), measured at mid-week HD session using a new dialyzer and then again at every mid-week HD session.Results: Although the spKt/V in HD sessions using new dialyzers at Qd of 500 ml/min was slightly lower than spKt/V at Qd of 800 ml/min (2.19±0.08 vs. 2.34±0.08, respectively, P=0.04), when accounting for urea rebound as assessed by eKt/V and Kt/VOCM, there was no significant difference. The average delivered doses in dialyzers reused 15 times, with the mean average of spKt/V, eKt/V and Kt/VOCM at Qd 500 ml/min, were not significantly inferior to the delivered doses at Qd 800 ml/min. Reusing a dialyzer 15 times did not decrease dialysis efficiency and delivered doses in all HD sessions reached spKt/V >1.4.Conclusion: Increasing Qd over 500 ml/min for modern dialyzers does not significantly increase delivered dose of dialysis. Dialyzer reuse does not affect dialysis efficiency and provides adequate dialysis therapy.

no one helped with their daily activities, 36% (nϭ150) said their spouse helped them, followed by child (9%, nϭ37), friend (7%, nϭ29), another relative (5%, nϭ21), parent (3%, nϭ12), paid helper (3%, nϭ12), visiting doctor/nurse (3%, nϭ12). Among those who sought caregiver help on daily basis (nϭ195), two-thirds (64%) reported being cared for by spouse, 42% said a friend, and 21% their child. When asked, who helped (always/sometimes) in making health and medical care decision, 86% said spouse, 51 % friend, and 46% child. Almost two-thirds (63%) indicated they had right amount of caregiver support in making treatment choice for blood transfusion, 61% reported they made an informed decision, whereas, 40% said they felt pressured by others. Higher percentage (74%) of previously transfused individuals agreed they have right amount of caregiver support in making a transfusion choice compared to not transfused group (55%). CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers play an important role in helping individuals with their health and medical treatment decisions. On a daily basis, primary caregivers are spouse, child, and friend. Individuals have right amount of caregiver support when making treatment decisions. OBJECTIVES:Post-transplant expectations can be overwhelming. We assessed the relationship between health literacy and unmet immunosuppressant (IS) drug information needs in kidney transplant recipients. We hypothesized that patients with low health literacy have greater unmet IS drug information needs compared to patients with optimal health literacy. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was mailed out to 300 kidney transplant patients recruited from a single urban transplant center. Inclusion criteria were receiving post-transplant care at the center and receiving the transplant 1 to 36 months before inception of the survey. A validated scale measured functional, communicative and critical health literacy. An unmet IS drug information need was defined as a person reporting some to a significant problem and too little information on areas related to IS drug management. A person with 7 or more unmet IS drug information needs was categorized as having high unmet IS drug information needs. Logistic regression was used to produce unadjusted and adjusted OR controlling for age, race, gender, and time since transplant. RESULTS: A response rate of 50% was obtained. 61.3% of respondents were male and the mean age was 56.7 (ϩ/Ϫ 11.2) years. Cronbach's alphas for functional, communicative, and critical health literacy respectively were 0.87, 0.88 and 0.83. Patients with high functional health literacy (ORunadjusted: 0.23 [0.07, 0.82]; ORadjusted: 0.26 [0.06, 1.09]) and patients using the transplant staff as a source of information about transplant medications (ORunadjusted: 0.43 [0.19, 0.94]; ORadjusted: 0.28 [0.10, 0.78])were less likely to report high unmet IS drug information needs. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low functional health literacy have high unmet IS drug information needs, which might affect the management of their condition. It is i...