Experiences and Health-related Quality of Life of Informal Caregivers of Dialysis Patients

End-stage kidney disease, the need to start dialysis, and the choice for a home-based treatment or a centre-based treatment does not only have an effect on patients, but also on their informal caregivers like spouses and adult children providing care to the patient. In order to properly inform patients with end-stage kidney disease and their informal caregivers about the start of dialysis therapy and the choice of dialysis modality, it is important to discuss also what the caregiver can expect after the start of dialysis. However, available evidence regarding the course of caregiving experiences after start of dialysis is limited. The aim of this study is to assess the trajectory of the experiences (both positive and negative) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of caregivers of patients who start home dialysis, and compare these to experiences and HRQoL of caregivers of patients who start in-centre hemodialysis (HD). The investigators hypothesise that (co-residential) caregivers of home dialysis patients experience more positive experiences, but also more negative experiences, and still have better HRQoL, compared with caregivers of in-centre HD patients.

This study is a prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study which is an extension of the ongoing DOMESTICO study. DOMESTICO is a nationwide study in incident dialysis patients, investigating the effects of home dialysis on HRQoL in relation to clinical outcome and costs, in comparison to in-centre HD. Participants will fill in five different validated questionnaires and questions on required support. Participants are asked to fill in the questionnaires after inclusion (i.e., start of dialysis), and at 6 and 12 months after start dialysis.