CKD Symptoms Are Better Managed With Patient Assessments
Patient-reported symptom assessments are a promising option in the management and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) symptoms, according to recent research.
Patients of all stages of CKD experience a high symptom burden, and symptoms may often be underreported. As a result, current measures for symptom management could use improvement.
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In order to evaluate CKD symptom burden based on disease stage, the researchers evaluated data from a study of 283 patients with stages 1 to 5 CKD who did not require renal replacement therapy (RRT). Eleven symptoms were assessed cross-sectionally via the Leicester Uremic Symptom Score.
Ultimately, patients with stage 1 to 2 CKD reported a median of 5 symptoms, compared with a median of 6 symptoms for patients with stage 3 to 5 CKD. Excessive tiredness, sleep disturbance, and bone and joint pain were the most commonly reported symptoms. The researchers noted that the findings from this study regarding the mean number of CKD symptoms were similar to those of previous studies.
These findings indicated that routine assessment and management of symptoms may be warranted throughout all stages of CKD due to the high and consistent symptom burden that is present in each stage.
“The high burden and suboptimal management of CKD symptoms warrant a more systematic approach towards symptom assessment as part of renal care,” the researchers concluded. “Routinely and digitally capturing patient-reported symptom information in clinical practice settings, either actively through questionnaires or passively through mobile sensors, has clear potential to support this.”
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
van der Veer SN, Aresi G, Gair R. Incorporating patient-reported symptom assessments into routine care for people with chronic kidney disease. Clin Kidney J. 2017;10(6):783-787. https://doi.org/10.1093/ckj/sfx106.