Quality of life assessment for patients with elbow arterio-venous fistula – a multicenter study

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is a chronic medical condition that has become a public health problem. A vascular access is mandatory for patients with ESRD in order to receive hemodialysis. The elbow fistula is the most used procedure for creating the vascular access. Maintaining the fistula’s patency represents a constant struggle for these patients representing their lifeline. Our goal was to evaluate the impact that the elbow fistula has on the patient’s life quality (QoL). We performed a multicenter study in the 2^nd surgical clinic, Timisoara Emergency County Hospital and the General Surgery department, “Carol Davila” Nephrology Clinical Hospital, Bucharest. We included only the patients that had their first vascular access procedure (elbow fistula) created in one of our centers. All patients completed the SF-36 questionnaire before surgery and at 6 months and 1 year after surgery. The SF-36 score has two major categories: the physical component summary (PCS) and the mental component summary (MCS). The results showed a decrease in the patients QoL after surgery (13.63% for the PCS and 6.87% for the MCS). Also elderly patients (>60 years age) had a decrease in the QoL of 19.11%PCS and 8.17%MCS compared to 10.20%PCS and 4.12%MCS for younger patients. Socio-economic status also has an impact on the patients QoL. Once the vascular access is created, patients must maintain their new lifeline through thorough self care actions and also by restricting their activities affecting the patient’s QoL. Further studies are required to help clarify the association between vascular access and the patient’s QoL.