Journal of

Introduction and purpose:: Number of patients with chronic renal failure is increasing during the last two centuries and 40% of these patients are elderly. This study aimed to evaluate and compare quality of life between elderly undergone hemodialysis and healthy elders in the city of Ilam.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 40 old patients under hemodialysis treatment for at least 6 months and 40 healthy elderly living in the community with no chronic diseases. We used SF-36 questionnaire to measure level of quality of life. Data were analyzed by  SPSS version 20 using t-test and ANOVA.

Findings:Our findings revealed a significant difference (P<0.05)   in the mean score of quality of life among patients under hemodialysis treatment (28.5 ± 5.16) and healthy elders (65.17 ± 11.83). There was a significant (p<0.001) relationship between quality of life and gender as well as income among hemodialysis patients. In contrast, there was only a significant association between quality of life and gender, but not income, among healthy elderly.

Conclusion: According to the findings from this study, level of quality of life among elderly under hemodialysis treatment was low.  Therefore, it would be beneficial to pay more attention toward quality of life among elderly undergoing hemodialysis.