Abstract: 【Abstract】Objective To determine the type of symptom group in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD)patients by factor analysis method and to analyze its correlation with patients' quality of life. Methods A total of 183 MHD patients were enrolled in this study. Their demographic data were collected. Symptoms and quality of life were evaluated by dialysis symptom assessment scale and concise health status scale (SF-36). Symptom groups were extracted by the factor analysis method. The relationship between symptom group and quality of life was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis, and the relationship between quality of life and different symptom groups was analyzed by multivariate linear regression. Results MHD patients were plagued by various symptoms. The highest frequency of symptom was fatigue (123, 67.21%), followed by itching (116, 63.39%) and dry skin (103, 56.28%); the highest severity of symptom was itching (3.54±0.89), followed by dry skin (3.46±0.92) and sleep difficulty (3.38±0.82); the most troublesome symptom was fatigue(4.41± 0.76), followed by itching (4.37±1.03) and sleep difficulty (3.94±1.11). The total score of quality of life in the MHD patients was 62.48±9.82 points, being a medium level. Five symptoms groups can be delineated in MHD patients, i.e., disease feeling, emotion, digestive tract, cardiopulmonary system, and water and electrolyte. The symptom group was negatively correlated with quality of life (r=-0.646, P=0.039 for disease feeling; r=-0.603, P=0.028 for emotion; r=-0.583, P=0.036 for digestive tract; r=-0.571, P=0.035 for cardiopulmonary system; r=-0.629, P=0.046 for water and electrolyte). Disease feeling group (β= 4.562, P=0.000), emotional symptom group (β=3.871, P=0.000) and water and electrolyte symptom group (β=2.693, P=0.000) were the most important factors negatively affecting quality of life in MHD patients. Conclusion MHD patients have various symptoms, which disturb them and affect quality of life. We should seek out an efficient, comprehensive and individualized management model based on the characteristics of the symptom group to improve the quality of life of MHD patients.

Key words: Maintenance hemodialysis, Symptom group, Quality of life, Relevance