Assessment of hemodialysis efficacy in patients with end-stage renal failure in the erbil hemodialysis center

Background: Adequate and effective hemodialysis (HD) improves health-related quality of life and reduces morbidity and mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The efficacy of dialysis procedure applied on patients diagnosed with ESRD was evaluated in the current investigation. Materials and Methods: In the present pre- and post-test cohort study, out of 375 patients, 120 patients (46 males and 74 females) on thrice-weekly chronic HD program were followed up over 6 months for evaluation of dialysis efficacy and possible outcomes. The efficacy of HD was measured through the Kt/V method and urea reduction ratio (URR). Results: The current study showed that the studied population (thrice-weekly HD patients) represents a minority of patients, i.e., 35.2% (132 of 375), and all other receiving insufficient HD treatment usually on twice weekly around 3 h for each session (64.8%). The study showed that the dialysis adequacy of the patients reached an adequate level by Kt/v and URR, 73.3% and 68.3%, respectively; the dialysis adequacy was increased with an increase in blood flow rate (P = 0.042), dialysis session time (P = 0.005), and dialysis sessions (P = 0.008). Patients with lower body mass index and without comorbidities were more likely to have adequate dialysis (P = 0.004 and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: HD treatment is suboptimal in Erbil Dialysis Center. Intensive follow-up and application of corrective measures may improve dialysis efficacy. Energetic efforts are required to examine and correct the reasons behind the dialysis inadequacy.