Background: One of the most often reported symptoms in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is fatigue. Additionally, fall is thought to be a marker of frailty and disability among them.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of fatigue and risk of fall among elderly patients with CKD.
Subjects and methods: A cross sectional study included 100 elderly patients, Males and females aging 60 years or more that were recruited from Ain Shams University Hospitals, 50 patients on regular hemodialysis and 50 patients diagnosed with chronic renal impairment. All patients were subjected to Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) with assessment of cognition, depression, risk of fall, balance, fatigue, past medical history, associated comorbidities and laboratory investigations. Results: The mean age among the studied population was 66.89±6.41 years, the prevalence of depression was 66%. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (HTN) (84%), diabetes (DM) (66%). On assessment of fall by Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, (45%) of the participants had risk of fall, which was more prevalent in haemodialysis group (54%); whereas by one leg balance test (51%) of them had risk of fall, which was more prevalent in haemodialysis group (72%), and on assessment of fatigue by Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) it was found that (68%) of the participants were fatigue positive, which was more prevalent in haemodialysis group (82%).
Conclusion: Almost half of elderly patients with CKD had high risk of falls and about two third of them experienced fatigue, which was more prevalent in patients on haemodialysis.