Introduction: In the last three decades, health systems have continued to pay increasing attention to the quality of life (QOL) due to definitional changes in the concept of health and disease. The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is significantly affected, regardless of the stage of CKD. Areas covered: We attempt to thoroughly explore how CKD affects HRQOL domains with a quick primer on HRQOL assessment instruments in patients with CKD. Also, we pointed out the factors affecting HRQOL in patients with CKD as well as the clinical application of HRQOL in CKD management. Expert opinion: The general population enjoys higher HRQOL than patients with CKD in all domains. Similarly, pre-dialysis and kidney-transplant patients have better HRQOL than dialysis population. There are many factors which negatively impact HRQOL in CKD which include for example depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment for the social domain, inactivity, and frailty for the physical domain as well as lack of social support and extroversion in the social domain. Additionally, social disparities and CKD-related factors would influence HRQOL. Of note, there is no global standard HRQOL assessment tool. Finally, HRQOL should be included in future CKD management guidelines.
Keywords: CKD; ESRD; HRQOL; KDQOL-36; QOL; dialysis; frailty; social disparities.