Quality of Life in Patients Transitioning to Home or In-Center Dialysis (QUALIFY CKD-to-HOME)

Background. Home dialysis is encouraged as the preferred therapy for people starting dialysis across Canada, with increased use of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home hemodialysis (HHD) for patients with higher comorbidity burden. Dialysis modality selection is primarily a patient-centered choice. Modality selection should be mostly based on lifestyle and personal values. Despite the recognition of this patient-centered decision, most dialysis modality studies are based on mortality, hospitalization, and socioeconomic factors. There is a paucity of data to best inform patients of the expected changes in patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) such as quality of life (QoL), and the progression of their frailty status after dialysis initiation.

Objective. This study will fill this knowledge gap and evaluate QoL and frailty trajectories from advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) to after dialysis initiation, specifically comparing patients choosing home dialysis and in-center hemodialysis (ICHD).

Design and Research Plan. Qualify CKD-to-Home is a prospective cohort study in 7 centers across Canada, with active patient-partner engagement. It is expected that around 200 patients will participate. Effort will be made to keep the ration of patients oriented towards home dialysis versus in-center at 1:2 or less.

Every 3 months participants will be followed, from estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <12 mL/min/1.73m2 and up to 12 months after dialysis start. They will be ask to complete questionnaires as the Kidney Disease Quality of Life (KDQOL-36), Quality of Life, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Standardized outcomes in Nephrology (SONG)-HD, Fatigue, the Medical Outcome Study- Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), Social Support, the Montreal Cognitive assessment (MoCa), Cognitive Function, the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), the Fried Frailty Phenotype (FP) and the Gender-Related Variable for Health Research questionnaire (GVHR).

Analyse. Descriptive statistics will be used to report baseline characteristics for all patients. The KDQOL-36 components and domains, CFS, FI, HADS, SONG Fatigue instrument, feeling thermometer and MOCA, will be treated as continuous measures. Relationship between baseline scores will be assessed using Spearman correlation. Within patient changes in QoL, continuous frailty measures (CFS, FI), fatigue, depression \& anxiety and general health will be described using generalized linear mixed effects models for repeated measures over time. Within patient changes in the proportion of patients classified as frail (vs. non-frail \& pre-frail) using the FP with dichotomization will be analyzed in generalized linear mixed models with logistic links for binary repeated measures outcomes nested within centers. Missing data will be managed using multiple imputation by chained equations prior to proposed analyses.

Future directions. This study will help inform patients with advanced CKD on the trajectory of important patient-centered outcomes after dialysis initiation with different dialysis modality. Data from this study will be used to build on a mixed-methods approach with qualitative interviews of patients / caregiver to extend the reach of our understanding on PROMs (QoL) and frailty changes during the CKD to dialysis transition. Finally, the study results will guide stakeholders in the development of interventions that will mitigate risk of adverse outcomes for home dialysis patients at increased risk, as identified in our study.