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Subject Area

Pediatrics

Article Type

Erratum

Abstract

I read the interesting study by Wassef et al. published in the October–December 2018 issue of the Menoufia Medical Journal. The authors assessed health‑related quality of life (HRQOL) and determined the factors and predictors affecting HRQOL of hemodialysis patients attending the dialysis unit in Benha University and Teaching Hospitals, Egypt. Using the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL‑SF) questionnaire, they found that HRQOL in the studied patients was relatively low as the mean score for physical component summary was 39.3 ± 10.98, and the mean score for mental component summary was 47.59 ± 12.21. The most important sociodemographic factors affecting HRQOL were age, sex, educational level, occupation, and marital status, while the most important comorbidities affecting HRQOL were anemia, hepatitis C virus infection, and diabetes. I assume that these results ought to be interpreted cautiously due to the presence of the following methodological limitation related to the HRQOL assessment tool used in the study. A particular HRQOL instrument requires disease‑ and country‑specific validation before deciding to be applied in clinical and research fields. The KDQOL‑SF questionnaire is an old instrument constructed more than two decades ago to evaluate the functioning and well‑being of patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis. Many population‑specific KDQOL‑SF questionnaire versions have been validated. Interestingly, the Arabic translation, adaptation, and the subsequent validation of KDQOL‑SF, version 1.3 questionnaire has been achieved and it proved to be a valid and reliable instrument for use in Egyptian patients with chronic kidney disease. I wonder why Wassef et al. did not refer to that validated Arab population‑specific version. I assume that if that Arabic version was used in the study methodology, more accurate results might have been obtained.

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