AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF HAEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE SOUTH INDIAN TEACHING HOSPITAL

Kidney transplantation in India is limited by the lack of cadaveric donors, limited availability of suitable livingrelated donors and economic factors. Thus the majority of patients with renal failure remain dialysis dependent. This study may give the information about the essentiality to avoid the progression of the kidney diseases by controlling the risk factors and to prevent & manage the complications associated with haemodialysis and it also provide the epidemiological data to the healthcare system, It helps in the prevention of kidney disease and planning for the provision of renal replacement therapy. This is a prospective observational study which is carried out in the dialysis unit at RIMS, Kadapa, It is a 750 bedded multi-disciplinary tertiary care teaching hospital. Our study showing results that Hypertension and Diabetes mellitus are the leading causes for the kidney diseases and Weakness and Headache are the prominent intra dialysis complications which occurred during dialysis. Awareness of haemodialysis patients on the disease, medication, diet along with the life style modifications through the patient education was found to be very helpful for the patients to control their risk factors and to improve the compliance to the dosage regimen. Key words: Haemodialysis, Incidence, Prevalence, Tertiary care teaching hospital, South India.