Evaluation of quality of care in a large Saudi Hemodialysis Center (Prince Salman Center for Kidney Diseases, Riyadh, KSA).

INTRODUCTION: The quality of care provided to dialysis patients is under increasing scrutiny and systematic measurements of clinical performance, relying on indicators such as levels of Kt/V, hemoglobin, and serum albumin, have been implemented.

METHODS: In this retrospective study we revised clinical and laboratory data of 146 chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients who met our inclusion criteria in the dialysis unit at Prince Salman Center for Kidney Diseases for a whole year - 2009. This study looked at the extent of adherence to the kidney diseases outcome quality initiative kidney diseases outcome quality initiative (K/DOQI), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for prevention of transmission of infections among HD patients, and American Association of Medical Instrumentation standards for dialysis water quality.

RESULTS: A total of 146 HD patients (54.8% males and 45.2% females) were included in this study with mean age 51.21 ± 15.33 years. About 97.94% of cases had thrice-weekly sessions. An arteriovenous fistula was the vascular access in 78.1% of cases, and a permanent catheter was used in 21.9%. The mean predialysis blood pressure was ≤140/90 in 91.8% of cases. The mean hemoglobin level was 11.44 ± 1.46 g/dL in prevalent HD patients; 79.45% of cases had a hemoglobin level ≥11 g/dL. The mean serum albumin level was 33.53 ± 4.02 g/L; only 31.33% of cases had serum albumin ≥35 g/L. The mean parathormone level was 34.35 ± 28.70 pmol/L; 43.0% of patients had the target range (16.5-33 pmol/L), and the mean calcium level was 2.17 mmol/L; 89.73% of cases had the target range (2.12-2.52 mmol/L) while the mean serum phosphorus level was 1.46 mmol/L; 83.56% of patients had the target range (0.81-1.78 mmol/L). The Ca × Pi product was ≤4.5 in 83.56% of cases. The mean Kt/V value was 1.45 ± 0.18 in prevalent HD patients (98.63% and 60.96% of cases had Kt/V ≥1.2 and ≥ 1.4, respectively). All patients were negative for HIV serology test while the prevalence of hepatitis C virus-positive and hepatitis B virus-positive patients was 24.7% and 4.1%, respectively. All patients (except hepatitis B virus positive) were vaccinated against hepatitis B virus. The annual mortality rate was 5.67%.

CONCLUSION: Our study revealed an excellent quality of care for HD patients in the field of vascular access care, hemoglobin level, blood pressure control, and dialysis adequacy. On the other hand, this study showed the need for improving the nutritional status of patients through more dietary counseling, nutritional education, and early management for nutritional problems.