Long-term Effect of Increasing Water Intake on Repeated Self-assessed Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effect of increasing water intake in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) on longitudinal changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the setting of a clinical trial.

Methods: Self-completed HRQoL (using the KDQoL-SF, v.1.3 questionnaire) was assessed annually in participants of a 3-year randomized controlled clinical trial ( = 187), allocated (1:1) either to increase water intake to reduce urine osmolality to ≤270 mosmol/kg (implemented by dietetic coaching, self-monitoring tools, text messaging) or continue usual water intake.

Results: Overall, 96% and 81.8% of participants ( = 187) completed the questionnaire at the baseline and final study visits, respectively. At baseline, the physical component summary score (PCS) and mental component summary score (MCS) were similar in the two groups (> 0.05) and the five dimensions with the lowest scores in both groups were: energy and fatigue; general and overall health; sleep; emotional well-being; and pain. Within each group, there were no longitudinal changes over time. At the final visit, the PCS was higher in the increased water intake group (51.3 ± 7.6, mean ± standard deviation) compared to the usual water intake group 48.8 ± 9.3; = 0.037) whereas the MCS was numerically similar. The improvement in the PCS was due to higher sub-scale values for physical functioning and pain (both < 0.05). By multivariate analysis, only baseline PCS and height-corrected total kidney volume were associated with the final PCS (< 0.05).

Conclusion: HRQoL scores remained stable over a 3 year period, and were not adversely affected by the intervention to increase water intake. Future studies should evaluate the clinical significance of the higher PCS in the increased water intake group.