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Aim To investigate the extent of post‐traumatic growth, and the correlation between post‐traumatic growth and self‐perceived stress, post‐traumatic growth and self‐perceived burden among CAPD patients. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods This was a multi‐centre study including 752 patients from 44 hospitals. Self‐perceived stress, self‐perceived burden and post‐traumatic growth were measured using the post‐traumatic growth inventory (PTGI), the Chinese version of the perceived stress questionnaire (CPSQ) and the self‐perceived burden scale (SPBS). A multiple stepwise regression analysis was fit with the total PTGI score as the outcome of interest. Results Patients concurrently experienced post‐traumatic growth and stress following peritoneal dialysis. The initiation of patients’ education level, employment status and self‐perceived stress were all found to relate to growth among Chinese CAPD patients. There was not sufficient evidence to suggest that self‐perceived burden was related to experiencing growth.

Aim The study aimed to investigate the current status of reproductive concerns and explore the associated factors among young female chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Design A multi‐center cross‐sectional study was designed. Methods The study was conducted in six representative tertiary hospitals across southwest China. A total of 295 female Chronic kidney disease patients between 18–45 years of age completed a 20 min, web‐based survey, which included demographics and disease‐related information questionnaire, Reproductive Concerns Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD‐7) instrument and Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ‐9) instrument. Result The survey total collected 270 valid questionnaires. The mean reproductive concern score was 54.39 ± 10.90 (out of a maximum of 90), with the mean scores for sub‐scales ranging from 7.80 ± 1.69 to 10.44 ± 1.85. Multiple regression analysis showed that those with higher reproductive concerns were more likely to have pregnancy intentions, to be in Chronic kidney disease stages 1–3, and to have a higher GAD‐7 score. This study offered further evidence of the need for improved education and emotional support surrounding reproductive concerns among young Chinese women with Chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a well-established renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease. The peritoneal equilibration test (PET) is widely used for assessing peritoneal solute transport. Recently, the International Society for PD committee recommended performing PET with 4.25% dextrose solution instead of traditional 2.5% dextrose solution to provide better information on ultrafiltration capacity. This study aims to explore the peritoneal transport characteristics, sodium sieving and electrolyte clearance with PET-4.25%. METHOD We conducted a cross-sectional study in PD patients treated in West China Hospital between June 2021 and December 2021. All patients underwent PET-4.25%. Peritoneal transport characteristics, sodium sieving and dialysate electrolyte clearance were analysed. RESULTS A total of 108 patients (61 males, 56%; mean age 48 ± 4 years old, median PD duration 17 months) were included. Dialysate to plasma (D/P) creatinine values at 4 h were distributed similarly in PET-2.5% and PET-4.25% (Fig. 1). The dialysate sodium decreased at the beginning of PET-4.25% and gradually increased, while other dialysate electrolyte levels continued to increase or decrease during the 4 h (Fig. 2). Most patients had their maximal sodium dip at 2 h (N = 80, 74%). The mean sodium dip at 1 h was 7.28 ± 2.93 mmol/L (sodium sieving ratio 0.057 ± 0.023), and the mean maximal sodium dip was 8.81 ± 4.18 mmol/L. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, sodium sieving was negatively correlated with 4-h D/P creatinine and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and positively correlated with PET-4.25% ultrafiltration volume (Fig. 3). The total clearances of sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium and phosphate with 2 L of 4.25% dextrose were 66.9 ± 22.4 mmol, 6.64 ± 1.25 mmol, 62.7 ± 27.7 mmol, 0.07 ± 0.27 mmol, 0.63 ± 0.19 mmol and 1.98 ± 0.63 mmol, respectively. The amount of electrolyte clearance was not related to peritoneal transport characteristics. Nine patients were diagnosed with ultrafiltration failure (UFF). Patients with UFF had significantly lower sodium and chloride clearance than non-UFF patients. CONCLUSION PET-4.25% could assess peritoneal transport characteristics with similar results to PET-2.5%, while it could provide more information on ultrafiltration capacity. Four-hour D/P creatinine, GFR and ultrafiltration volume are independent predictors for sodium sieving. Dialysate electrolyte clearance is not related to peritoneal transport characteristics, while sodium clearance is decreased in UFF patients.

Context Health-related quality of life (QOL) is a recommended clinical tool to assess hemodialysis patients and a primary end point to observe the effectiveness of overall disease management. Empathy is associated with positive outcomes such as pain relief and reduced anxiety and distress. Numerous studies have tested the relationships among empathy, forgiveness, and QOL; however, a mechanism of forgiveness has not been fully explored in hemodialysis patients. Objectives To test the relationship among empathy and health-related QOL and confirm the moderating effects of forgiveness on relationship between empathy and health-related QOL among hemodialysis patients. Methods In a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from September to December 2017, 457 hemodialysis patients from five hospitals filled out the Heartland Forgiveness Scale, Interpersonal Reactivity Index-C, Kidney Disease Questionnaire, and general information. The data were analyzed using SPSS, and structural equation modeling was used to address the relationships among empathy, forgiveness, and health-related QOL. Results Empathy was significantly positively associated with health-related QOL. The proposed model had a good fit to the data. Forgiveness was found to play a partial mediating role between empathy and health-related QOL. Conclusion The results imply that empathy significantly directly and indirectly influences health-related QOL. Empathy among hemodialysis patients should be monitored and effectively managed to improve positive effects on their health-related QOL. Nurses should consider implementing empathy interventions with an emphasis on building forgiveness strategies to help hemodialysis patients improve their health-related QOL.

Iron deficiency is common in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Platelet count changes may reflect iron status, but the relationship between platelet count and iron indices is unclear in patients with ESRD.We conducted a retrospective study in 1,167 patients with ESRD from 2012 to 2017 in West China Hospital. Baseline data were used to analyze the relationship between the platelet count and iron indices. Patients were followed up for 3 years.Patients with iron deficiency (both absolute and functional) had a higher platelet count than those without iron deficiency (174 ± 61 × 10There was a weak but significant platelet count elevation in patients with ESRD and with iron deficiency.

Background The impacts of nurse-led disease management programs on the quality of life for patients with chronic kidney disease have not been extensively studied. Furthermore, results of the existing related studies are inconsistent. The focus of the proposed meta-analysis is to evaluate the efficacy of nurse-led disease management programs in improving the quality of life for patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods Literature survey was performed to identify the eligible studies from PubMed, Current Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials with predefined terms. The outcome measured was quality of life. This meta-analysis was conducted in line with recommendations from the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Results Eight studies comprising a total of 1520 patients were included in this meta-analysis, with 766 patients assigned to the nurse-led disease management program. Nurse-led disease management improved the quality of life in terms of symptoms, sleep, staff encouragement, pain, general health perception, energy/fatigue, overall health and mental component summary when evaluated 6 weeks after the beginning of intervention. When evaluated 12 weeks later, the quality of life in terms of symptoms, sleep, staff encouragement, energy/fatigue, and physical component summary was improved. Stratified by the modalities of dialysis, similar results of pooled analyses were observed for patients with peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis, compared with the overall analyses. The results of sensitivity analyses were the same as the primary analyses. The symmetric funnel plot suggested that the possibility of potential publication bias was relatively low. Conclusion Nurse-led disease management program seems effective to improve some parameters of quality of life for patients with chronic kidney disease. However, the seemingly promising results should be cautiously interpreted and generalized and still need to be confirmed through well-designed large-scale prospective randomized controlled trials.